Local Family History Resources in Harris County, Texas

Filling in the empty slots on your family tree is not easy, but you don't have to fly around the world to find your ancestors either. A lot of times what you are looking for can be right under your nose. If you live in Harris County below is a short list of local and online resources you can use to learn about your family history.

1. Family History and Genealogy for Harris County

By far Family History and Genealogy for Harris County is the most useful Harris County website I have found online for locating ancestors. The website is organized by topic: histories, maps, demographics, court records, surnames, search engines, census, naturalization, immigration, vital records, etc., of Harris County. For further information, within each topic web links, addresses and phone numbers are provided. A few links need to be updated and some sections of the website are under construction, but compared to the valuable resources it has it is not a problem.

2. Family History Center

The Family History Center provides access to most of the microfilms and microfiche in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The centers are designed to help members identify their ancestors. Everyone is welcome to visit these centers and find information about their family history. There are several centers in Harris County. For the locations, address, numbers, and times of availability click here.

3. Harris County Clerk

At the Harris County Clerk office a genealogist can find real property records (including state and federal tax liens); vital statistics records such as marriage licenses; assumed names; and uniform commercial code records. For contact information visit the Harris County Clerk website.

4. CousinConnect.com

CousinConnect.com is a Harris County online forum. Here genealogists can post any question they may have about their family tree. "CousinConnect was developed throughout all of 2001. The first prototype of the website was launched in October of 2001. Beta testing began at that time, using actual genealogists who volunteered to help. On January 1, 2002, CousinConnect officially launched."

5. The Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle has been around for years and is a great place to find listing of current death notices for the Harris County region. To visit or send mail to The Houston Chronicle visit The Houston Chronicle at 801 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002. You an also use their website search engine for past death notices and obituaries.

6. Texas Mailing List

At Texas Mailing List you can sign up to mailing lists related to your families name within the state of Texas. So, if you were looking for your family in Harris County you would sign up for the Harris County mailing list. If you know one of your ancestors was in the Texas military you could sign up for this mailing list. If someone from your family tree lived in Houston you would sign up for this list.

7. Adoption Records

If someone on your family tree doesn't fit just right and you are wondering if they are adopted you could try finding their adoption records. The Texas Department of State Health Service would have these records. The Texas Department of State Health Service also has records regarding birth, marriage, divorce, paternity and death. Many of these records can be ordered online at DSHS.

These are just a few of the local resources available in Harris County. Please make sure to click on links of resources to find more. If you have had experience with any of these resources please share them with us below. Happy family hunting everyone.