Ohio Archives, Societies & Publications

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

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

Ohio 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 Ohio Archives
List of Ohio Libraries & Museums
List of Ohio Historical & Genealogical Societies
Regional and State Societies
County, Township and City Societies
Religious and Ethnic Societies
Ohio Newspapers & Publications
Newspapers
Periodicals
Books

List of Ohio Archives

  • Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division,  1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211; Telephone: 614-297-2300; The Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library is, by law, the archives for the State of Ohio. As such, we collect, preserve, and make available to the public, documents pertaining to the operation of state and local governments.
  • Archives and Special Collections, Wright State University Library, Dayton, OH 45435-0001; Serves Region 7-west central Ohio.
  • Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0175. Serves Region 2-northwest Ohio.
  • Ohio Network of American History Research Centers; Established in 1970 to aid in the collection, preservation, and accessibility of research materials related to Ohio history, the network is composed of seven institutions -Ohio’s two largest historical societies and five state universities. A central feature of the network is the division of the entire state into seven distinct geographical areas for research. Each center collects county records for its area.
  • Western Reserve Historical Society Library and Archives 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106; 216-721-5722 x 224, FAX 216-721-5702.
  • Ohio Department of Health, [ Birth Records from 1908, Death Records From 1908 ]Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 118 , Columbus, OH 43216-0118 ; Phone: (614) 466-2531; For birth and death records prior to Dec. 20, 1908, contact the Probate Court of the county where the birth occurred. For birth and death records from Dec. 20, 1908, through Dec. 31, 1944, contact The Ohio Historical Society at 1-800-653-6446 or 614-297-2510
  • Ashland University Archives, 401 College Ave, Ashland, OH 44805-3799; Phone: (419) 289-5433
  • Cuyahoga County Archives, 2905 Franklin Blvd NW, Cleveland 44113; (216) 443-7250 
  • Archives of Ohio United Methodism, Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave, Ohio, OH 43015-2370; Phone: (740) 368-3285; The Archives of Ohio United Methodist holds a collection of books, manuscripts, photographs, and memorabilia that documents the history of the East and West Ohio Conferences of the United Methodist Church and their antecedents. Materials date from 1800 to the present.

List of Ohio Libraries & Museums

  • Serpent Mound, 3850 State Route 73, Peebles, OH 45660-9128; Phone: (937) 587-2796
  • Columbus Metropolitan Library, Genealogy Division, 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43215. 614-645-2ASK (2275); The Genealogy Division holds microfilm; printed, typescript, and manuscript collections, including family and local histories; atlases; cemetery records; city directories; military records; censuses and census indexes; and transcribed records provided by the Ohio chapters of the DAR.
  • Archives and Special Collections Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2978. Serves Region 5-southeast Ohio.
  • Bierce Library, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1750. Serves Region 1-east central Ohio
  • Blegen Library, University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0113 ; Serves Region 3-southwest Ohio.

List of Ohio 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, Ohio groups many times help coordinate the efforts of local societies throughout the Ohio.

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

Regional and State Societies

  • Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 South Main Street, Mansfield OH 44907-1644; Membership includes a quarterly, The Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the bimonthly OGS Genealogy News. The society has annual meetings, one hundred county chapters, the Families of Ohio lineage society, and publishes various items of genealogical and historical interest. This library contains over 26,000 volumes, family vertical files, Bible records, ancestors cards, manuscript files, census microfilm, and a broad variety of other valuable resources for research in Ohio. A response to a written request for general and specific information is answered promptly, cordially, and very thoroughly.
  • Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474; Telephone: 614-297-2300; The society’s library collections document the history of Ohio and its people, including 125,000 books and pamphlets and 40,000 reels of newspaper microfilm and 20,000 volumes of original newspapers. The newspaper collection is one of the nation’s largest. Their audiovisual collections are outstanding, including nearly 7,500 photographs of locomotives and railroad subjects in the G. Hayes Coleman series. Major works on the settlement and government of Northwest Territory are in the rare books division.  The society houses (at the above address) the State Archives of Ohio, with more than 30,000 cubic feet of state and local government records. The society also serves the central Ohio counties as part of the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers.
  • Western Reserve Historical Society 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. Telephone: (216) 721-5722 ; Its extensive manuscript collection (published guide available by mail) is supplemented by an equally extensive microfilm collection of federal census returns and the National Archives Revolutionary War Pension records. The society serves as the network center for its area and charges a per-day fee for nonmembers.
  • Florida Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, PO Box 56433 , Jacksonville, Florida  32241-6433 ; holds an annual meeting on the third weekend in February in different areas of Florida.
  • Southern Ohio Genealogical Society PO Box 414 Hillsboro, OH 45133 meets at the Southern State Community College, Central Campus, Hillsboro, OH at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday each month except January and February
  • Ohio Mayflower Descendants – The Ohio Mayflower Society is part of a national group, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, who enjoys history and fellowship.
  • Ohio Cemetery Preservation Society, P.O. Box 24810, Lyndhurst 44124-0810
  • Daughters of the American Revolution-Ohio Society, 5253 Willow Dr, Lima, OH 45807-1337
  • National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
  • Ohio Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
  • National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
  • Florida Chapter, OGS, PO Box 466, Melrose, FL 32666-0466 ; Florida Chapter, OGS holds an annual meeting on the third weekend in February in different areas of Florida. Write for information.,

County, Township and City Societies

Religious and Ethnic Societies

Ohio Newspapers & Publications

Ohio 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.

The Ohio Historical Society also has a manuscript division. The topics of available manuscripts include: Northwest Territory and early statehood, the Civil War, religion, African Americans, women, labor, politics, and mass communication.

Particularly notable are the Wilbur Siebert Collection, which includes American Loyalists and the Underground Railroad; land grants signed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; Henry O. Dwight’s watercolor drawings of the Civil War; and Ohio AFL-CIO records.

Another manuscript collection can be found at the Ohio Genealogical Society. These include Bible records and First Family of Ohio applications. These applications can be used to verify ancestry in Ohio for years before 1820. Finally, an additional collection is available through the Ohio Network Centers.

Newspapers

In 1793, publication of The Centinel of the North-Western Territory began. This Cincinnati-area based paper and a number of newspaper indexes can be found at the Ohio Historical Society, including the Chillicothe Gazette. The Chillicothe Gazette is the oldest paper in continuous publication west of the Alleghenies.

If you are just researching obituaries, clippings of these records are saved by many historical societies in each local area. German obituaries may be found in the record of 1,700 clippings preserved by the German Immigrant Society of Cincinnati.

Local papers for each area are usually saved by separate preservation projects in each area. You can also contact local historical or genealogical societies for guidance. The Ohio Historical society has a 1990 catalog publication for sales that lists its papers available on microfiche.

The society’s papers on microfilm can be accessed through inter-library loan. The society’s website provides bibliographic information.

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.

  • Ohio History (aka Ohio Archaeological or Historical Quarterly and Ohio Historical Quarterly) – Ohio Historical Society since 1887.
  • The Report – Ohio Genealogical Society
  • Ohio Records and Pioneer Families – Ohio Genealogical Society
  • Civil War Genealogy Journal – Ohio Genealogical Society
  • Ohio Genealogical Periodical Index: A County Guide by Carol Willsey Bell. Subject index to publications of genealogical and historical societies.

Books