Record Atlas
1742 FamilySearch collections · 4 archives · 3,862 places · 1500–2025

United States of America

Where the records of United States of America are, who holds them, and what it costs to look. 3,671,236,163 indexed records reachable through FamilySearch alone.

Where to start in United States of America

3 of the 4 checked sources here can be opened tonight. 2are free images with no account. 1 needs a free account. 1is paid or part-paid. On top of that, 9 worldwide services reach United States of America without a subscription.

Write to National Archives Catalog (NARA) for what is not online. FamilySearch has 1,742 collections covering it, running 1500–2025, 3,671,236,163 indexed records. 2 pieces of this ground are mapped for jurisdiction, so the atlas can say whose archive held it in a given year.

3,862 places placed, 322 volumes walked. Open United States of America on the map, or tell us what is missing.

Whose archive this ground was

Record regions mapped in United States of America — which empire held the ground, and therefore which archive holds its paper.

The archives

  • Chronicling America free Washington, D.C., United States

    The Library of Congress's digitised American newspapers, full-text and free.

  • Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation New York, United States

    Passenger arrivals at New York, 1820–1957, with manifest images. Free with an account.

  • Findmypast paid

    Commercial. The strongest British and Irish collection, including parish registers licensed from diocesan archives and the 1921 census of England and Wales. BT 27 IS NOT ONE FORM AND ITS COLUMNS ARE NOT A CONSTANT. The outward passenger lists were re-drawn across the series, so a field present in one piece proves nothing about another and the era has to be checked before a row is planned around it. Sampled by the Luwinski archive: the 1907 form has NO «last address in the United Kingdom» column at all and buckets ages by nationality instead; the 1937 and 1939 form — printed «P.M. 21», columns (1)–(9) — carries last UK address at (6), country of last permanent residence at (8) and country of intended future permanent residence at (9); a 1951 piece is a typed US military transport manifest filed inside BT 27 with none of the Board of Trade form left. ACROSS EVERY REVISION SEEN, none gives an address in the DESTINATION country — the finest is a country and nothing below it, so «where in Australia did they settle» is not a question this series answers.

  • National Archives Catalog (NARA) free Washington, D.C., United States

    The US National Archives catalogue and scans — naturalisations, passenger lists, military service, land.

And 12 worldwide providers reach United States of America too — the full list.

1742 FamilySearch collections

Grouped by the ground each one covers, province by province, with the nationwide indexes last. A free account opens the images; some are restricted to a Family History Centre.

Alabama 29
Alaska 10
Arizona 36
Arkansas 27
British Colonial America 12
California 74
Colorado 12
Connecticut 20
Delaware 20
District of Columbia 11
Florida 39
Georgia 36
Hawaii 35
Idaho 38
Illinois 44
Indian Territory 1
Indiana 22
Iowa 48
Kansas 28
Kentucky 22
Louisiana 36
Maine 39
Manitoba 1
Maryland 22
Massachusetts 39
Michigan 33
Minnesota 47
Mississippi 25
Missouri 26
Montana 37
Nebraska 11
Nevada 6
New Hampshire 25
New Jersey 29
New Mexico 13
New York 65
North Carolina 37
North Dakota 9
Ohio 60
Oklahoma 17
Oregon 37
Pennsylvania 43
Rhode Island 20
South Carolina 24
South Dakota 16
Tennessee 27
Texas 74
Utah 57
Vermont 22
Virginia 39
Washington 30
West Virginia 17
Wisconsin 34
World 1
Wyoming 5
United States of America — nationwide 155

504 more collections, contributed

A directory David assembled, sorted by what kind of record each one is. Read this differently from the rest of the page. The descriptions are his, not an archive's catalogue, and nobody here has opened the volumes behind them. Every link was tried on 2026-09-20 and answered; the ones that did not are not listed.

Church and parish registers 21
Civil registration and vital records 110
Censuses and population lists 44
Probate, land and notarial 259
Military and wartime 49
Immigration and emigration 4
Cemeteries and burials 25
Jewish and minority 4
General historical archives 2

3,862 places, 322 volumes

The 250 carrying the most collections are listed; 3,612 more are in United States of America and on the map. Every place lists them all.

Every country · The map