Internet Links

For more resources, see our Genealogy databases, LFPL Genealogy Resources and Louisville History Resources.

Genealogy Resources

Cemeteries and Graves
Census
Ethnic and Religious Sites
Genealogical Research in Kentucky
Genealogical Research in Louisville
Genealogical Resources at LFPL
General Genealogy Sites
Immigrants

Kentucky
Maps
Military
Newspapers
Obituaries
Organizations
Passenger Lists
Vital Statistics

Cemeteries and Graves

Jefferson County Cemetery Directory
Cave Hill Cemetery Burial Lookup
Catholic Cemeteries in Louisville
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery
International Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project - Links to Jewish Cemeteries in Kentucky
Pewee Valley Cemetery - "The Pewee Valley Cemetery was established in May 1871. In 1904 the Directors of the cemetery authorized the subdivision of the cemetery into three sections, one section for the whites, one section for the black population of Pewee Valley and the surrounding areas and one section for the State of Kentucky to use for the interment of veterans from the Confederate Veterans Home located in Pewee Valley.
Find a Grave - Find the graves of famous people. A database of over 19 million graves searchable by name, location, claim to fame, birth date and death date.
Interment.net - This publisher of cemetery transcriptions can help locate burials of family and friends, trace family history, and learn something about cemeteries in general. For a direct link to cemetery listings in Kentucky Counties click here.

Census

How to use the 1940 Census - from Stephen P. Morse
Enumeration Districts for the 1940 Census - from Stephen P. Morse

Ethnic and Religious Sites

AfriGeneas - This site is devoted to African ancestry in the Americas.
JewishGen - JewishGen®, Inc. is the primary internet source connecting researchers of Jewish genealogy worldwide.

Genealogical Research in Kentucky

Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
County Courthouse Disasters in Kentucky
Kentucky Historical Society
Kentucky Historical Institutions
Special Collections at Western Kentucky University - Find information about asylums, state hospitals, infirmaries and other historical medical locales in Kentucky. There are a limited number of historical records available as well.
County Courthouse Disasters in Kentucky

Genealogical Research in Louisville

Filson Historical Society Library
Naturalization Records for Jefferson County - Naturalization Records for Jefferson County are available at Metro Archives
Sons of the American Revolution Historical and Genealogical Library
Jefferson County Kentucky GenWeb Project
Metro Louisville Archives

Genealogical Resources at LFPL

See our Genealogy Collection page

General Genealogy Sites

Accessgenealogy.com
Ancestry.com Library Edition is available free at all LFPL locations, but access is limited to library computers only.
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Cyndi’s list is a starting point for genealogical research online. The site has more than 250,000 links that point users to genealogy web pages. The links are categorized and cross-referenced.
Family Search - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sponsors this site, which has a large collection of free family history, family tree, and genealogical records. You can also go here to learn more about the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
WorldGenWeb - Go here to find resources by country. Each country has its own site, which may provide you with online resources, email lists, query boards, contact information for local libraries and archives, maps, local histories, and more.
USGenWeb Project - This is the United States’ page for the WorldGenWeb Project. The goal of the site is “to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States.”

Immigrants

The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island passenger search - find passengers who arrived on Ellis Island between 1892-1954.
NARA's Immigration Records - This National Archives & Records Administration site explains where to find passenger lists and immigration records and provides several links to immigration resources.
Castle Clinton - formerly Castle Garden, the site was once the official immigrant processing center in the nation from 1855 through 1890.

Kentucky

The Kentucky GenWeb Project - Hosted by a group of volunteers, this site is a good starting point for Kentucky genealogical research. It also provides information on Kentucky history and Kentucky counties.
Revolutionary War Warrants from the Kentucky Secretary of State - This database is an index to 4,748 land warrants that Virginia issued to Revolutionary War veterans. It also provides access to digitized images of the warrants.

Maps

Louisville Title Co.'s Atlas of Louisville and Jefferson County Kentucky [1913]
- From the University of Louisville Digital Collections
Map of Jefferson County, Kentucky circa 1858 - from the Library of Congress.
University of Louisville Digital Collections - Three atlases of Louisville, maps from the Lafon Allen Kentucky Maps Collection.
Links to Historic County Maps of Kentucky - Libguide from the University of Kentucky
Sanborn Maps Louisville - Sanborn maps** are valuable historical tools for urban specialists, social historians, architects, geographers, genealogists, local historians, planners, environmentalists, and anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of American cities, towns, and neighborhoods.

They are large-scale plans containing data that can be used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. This includes information such as the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers.

**Available years for Louisville include 1892, 1905, 1906 and the period of 1928-1951 only.

Military

Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System - The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a computerized database containing very basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War.
Military Personnel Records Center - This division of the National Archives & Records Administration is the repository for military records for all discharged and deceased veterans who served during the 20th Century.
Online Veterans and Military Documents - a description of military records available throught the National Archives and Records Administration.
The War of the Rebellion - "Begun in 1874 with an amendment to an appropriations bill, the War of the Rebellion has evolved into a massive 156-volume set comprising official correspondence, battle reports, military records, supplements and addendums for both the Union and Confederate armies.
Korean War Casualties from Kentucky - from the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Ultimate Guide to World War 2 Records - Find sources of information for World War 2 records.
Vietnam War Casualties from Kentucky - from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Newspapers

National Digital Newspaper Program - Kentucky Edition - Kentucky chose 37 newspapers that were representative of the state's six unique geographic regions. As each new NDNP phase expands its date, those 37 original titles continue to be digitized if they are available on microfilm. Meanwhile, new titles are introduced.
Kentucky African American Newspapers
Lexington Public Library’s Local History Index - “The selective citations included in the Lexington Public Library’s Local History Index appeared in various Lexington newspapers beginning with the Kentucky Gazette in 1787 and continuing through the current Lexington Herald-Leader.
Louisville Leader - The Louisville Leader was an African-American community newspaper. The UofL Digital Archives has digitized the copies they have.
Kentucky Digital Newspaper Collection - from the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center

Obituaries

ObitFinder™ - "ObitFinder™ searches obituaries from more than 400 U.S., Canadian & U.K. newspapers and the U.S. Social Security Death Index to provide the most accurate and timely obituary information available. Recently published obituaries can be accessed at no charge, as can Social Security Death Index information." Obituaries from our archive can be accessed for a small fee.
Owensboro Area Death Index - Since 1977 Daviess County Public Library staff has abstracted obituary information from the Owensboro Messenger and the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. The library provides this online index, which covers two time periods: 1890 -1919 and 1980 to the present.

Organizations

Passenger Lists

The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island passenger search - find passengers who arrived on Ellis Island between 1892-1954.
Immigration Records - from the National Archives and Records Administration

Vital Statistics

Marriage and Divorce Certificates These can be found at The Office of Vital Statistics from June 1958-current.
Kentucky Cabinet for Health Services - The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of births and deaths occurring prior to Jan. 1, 1911 except delayed records of births for those born before 1911, which have been established by affidavits and documentary evidence. Central registration of marriages and divorces began in Kentucky in June 1958. The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of marriages and divorces prior to that date. Copies of marriage certificates prior to June 1958 may be obtained from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued. Records of divorce proceedings are available from the clerk of the circuit court that granted the decree. The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has birth and death records for the cities of Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, which were established under city ordinance prior to 1911. They also have pre-1911 birth and death records (statewide coverage) and 1911-1955 death records (statewide coverage)."

Last Updated: 01/23/2023