North Carolina Archives, Societies & Publications

It is a good idea to familiarize personally with just about any repository in North Carolina that you simply might travel to by communicating with to the best suited archive or library in advance.

Most, if not all, North Carolina repositories have written and published content that present its collections as well as research policy.

North Carolina archives and historical organizations usually have On-line sites that provide equivalent details. Several also contain down loadable data for some or parts of their collections.

Table of Contents hide
List of North Carolina Archives
List of North Carolina Libraries & Museums
List of North Carolina Historical & Genealogical Societies
Regional and State Societies
County, Township and City Societies
Religious and Ethnic Societies
North Carolina Newspapers & Publications
Newspapers
Periodicals
Books

List of North Carolina Archives

  • North Carolina State Vital Records Office,  1903 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1903; (919) 733-3526
  • North Carolina State Archives, Office of Archives and History—State Library Building;Public Services Branch, Mail Service Center 4614, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614 ; Phone: (919) 807-7310, Fax: (919) 733-1354; Its holdings consist of official records of state, county, and local governmental units, and copies of federal and foreign government materials. In addition to these official records are private collections, maps, pamphlets, sound recordings, photographs, motion picture film, and a small reference library. In all, the Archives houses over 50,000 linear feet of permanently valuable materials containing millions of individual items. ; Materials in the State Archives constitute by far the most valuable assembly of manuscript records and North Caroliniana in existence. Most of the records housed in the Archives are available for use only in the Search Room. A limited amount of indexed material can be searched for mail inquiries.

List of North Carolina Libraries & Museums

List of North Carolina Historical & Genealogical Societies

For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both.

In addition to their own work, North Carolina groups many times help coordinate the efforts of local societies throughout the North Carolina.

Their unique publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those created through the area societies.

Regional and State Societies

County, Township and City Societies

Religious and Ethnic Societies

North Carolina Newspapers & Publications

North Carolina Genealogical publications (magazines, newsletters, periodicals, books, etc.) contain all types of invaluable information about specific ancestors, whole lineages and families, places in time, and about all sorts of genealogical records and repositories.

There are several manuscript collections to be found in archives and libraries across North Carolina. Many can also be accessed through online databases.

The website for the manuscript department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill lists an alphabetical catalog of holdings. Included in that list is the Southern Historical Collection. Another useful catalog can be found on the website for Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library. There are also several collections available at the North Carolina State Archives, including: Private Papers, Correspondence, Diaries, Account Books

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin is home to a collection of manuscripts called the Draper Collection, which includes a lot of information on North Carolina. The North Carolina State Archives, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other repositories across the state also hold microfilmed copies of the Draper Collection.

Newspapers

The first North Carolina newspaper was the North Carolina Gazette. It was first published in August of 1751. There are over 50 North Carolina library newspaper collections listed in the North Carolina Online Union List of Serials (part of the OCLC Union List of Serials System). It can be accessed at the OCLC or through inter-library loan programs.

The North Carolina State Archives has the largest collection of newspapers from North Carolina. There are many other libraries that hold microfilmed newspaper collections as well. For example, several newspapers can be found at the University of North Carolina. Their website lists their newspaper holdings.

Periodicals

Genealogical journals provide you with plenty of sources of information and facts, they are generally overlooked by genealogy and family history researchers and genealogist in looking around for family history.

Many regional and county genealogical and/or historical societies produce periodicals which have records relating to the region or vicinity they operate.

Frequently these publications have articles involving records that are not obtainable somewhere else.

  • North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal (Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1975–present) and
  • North Carolina Genealogy, formerly The North Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.: W. P. Johnson, 1955–75).

Books