State of Florida Records Guide

Throughout its early history, Florida was controlled at various times by Spain, England, and France. Those periods of possession are: 1513, Discovery; 1565-1763, First Spanish Colonial Period; 1763-83, British Colonial Period; 1784-1821, Second Spanish Period; 1821-45, U.S. Territorial Period; 1845, Became the 27th U.S. State.

Now known mostly as a place where vacationers head to enjoy the pleasant weather and wonderful attractions, the state of Florida is also incredibly historic. There are many historical organizations, museums, and groups that can be of tremendous use to those looking for Florida genealogy material.

Florida Counties – The Florida Territory was organized on March 30, 1821. The State of Florida was created as the 27th state on March 3, 1845. It has 67 Counties. The State of Florida is bordered by Georgia and Alabama. The capital is Tallahassee and the official state website is http://www.flgov.com/.

Select a Florida county to view information & records pertaining to each County

Beginning the Search for Florida Genealogy Data – A modern researcher just beginning their search for Florida genealogy data will be able to make a lot of progress before they even leave their home office. This is because the state of Florida has already digitized a huge amount of the information of specific interest to those hunting around for Florida genealogy information. It is important to remember, however, that although there is already a large amount of material online, there is also going to be the need to make a few trips to physical locations as well.

This means that anyone doing research for Florida genealogy projects will have to familiarize themselves with the online tools that can save them from making any unnecessary trips. For instance, they might find that in a search for Florida genealogy data, they can request reprints and documents all through the Internet.

A Reliable Approach for Florida Genealogy – Some of the most comprehensive sets of data for Florida genealogy researchers will be the public records listed below:

• Vital Records – these are comprised of the birth, marriage, divorce and death records from county, state, and national archives, and can also contain cemetery or obituary information, newspaper items, military records, census records, immigration and naturalization details, passenger lists and records as well. These are available as online and offline resources for Florida genealogy.
• State Records – from probate information to birth certificates, cemetery information, death records, deeds, estate information, genealogical folders, land records, maps, marriage details, military or veterans information, newspapers, private manuscripts, state census information, surname lists and more. These are available as online and offline resources for Florida genealogy.
• Local Records – those looking for Florida genealogy will start in a county clerk’s office or website, and then head to the local genealogical societies, small local libraries, historical societies, and school or college libraries for Florida genealogy data. These are things that are usually offline and viewable by appointment or special arrangement.

Your Best Tools for Florida Genealogy – Good researchers quickly discover strong resources for Florida genealogy work, and below are some of the best for Florida genealogy that we have found to be of use:

• Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 210, 1217 Pearl Street (Zip 32202), Jacksonville, FL 32231-0042; Website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/florida.htm .
  This is where you can order birth, death, marriage and divorce records via a written request or even online.

Additional state and local records can be found at the:

• State Archives of Florida, R.A. Gray Building , 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250; Website: http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/index_researchers.cfm .
  This is a site that provides access to a large number of records that range from Civil War data, Spanish Land Grants, war service records, and much more.

Also, consider using the Florida Department of State Genealogy Resources website at: http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/library/Bibliographies/genealogy.cfm.

Finally, these websites provide a tremendous amount of state-specific details to those in search of facts for Florida genealogy projects.