Every record holds a story. Discover Yours.
Trace your ancestry, uncover missing links, and bring your family’s history to life.
Every record holds a story. Discover Yours.
Trace your ancestry, uncover missing links, and bring your family’s history to life.
Explore America’s Historical Records
Search millions of public records, historical archives, and family history documents
from across the United States — all in one place.
Featured Historical Collections
Vital Records Collections preserve important life events including birth, marriage, death, and obituary records from historical archives across the United States. These records help families trace ancestry, verify family connections, and uncover generations of personal history.
Historical Newspaper & Photo Archives
Historical Newspaper & Photo Archives preserve millions of newspaper pages, vintage photographs, local stories, and historical events from communities across the United States. Explore obituaries, marriages, war headlines, city news, family photographs, and rare archival images that help bring your ancestors’ lives and American history into clearer focus.
Census & Population Collections
Census & Population Collections provide access to historical U.S. census schedules, population records, household data, and community archives from 1790–1950. These records help families discover where ancestors lived, worked, immigrated, and how generations grew across the United States.
Military & War Records preserve the service history, enlistment records, draft registrations, pension files, and veteran archives of Americans who served from the Revolutionary War through World War II and beyond. These historical military collections help families honor their ancestors, trace service history, and uncover generations of American military heritage.
Land, Court & Legal Archives offer access to historical deeds, probate records, wills, lawsuits, land grants, courthouse filings, and property maps from counties and states across America. These legal and land records reveal how families lived, inherited property, settled estates, resolved disputes, and built communities—providing valuable insight into both personal ancestry and local U.S. history.
Immigration & Passenger Records
Immigration & Passenger Records preserve the journeys of millions of immigrants who arrived in the United States through ports such as Ellis Island and Castle Garden. These historical collections include passenger lists, naturalization records, ship manifests, and arrival documents that help families trace their origins, discover ancestral journeys, and uncover generations of American heritage.
Browse Historical Records by State
As genealogists, we founded SearchMyRecords.com to help family historians uncover their ancestors’ stories through carefully curated historical archives from all 50 U.S. states. Our collections include birth certificates, marriage licenses, census schedules, military enlistments, immigration records, land grants, court archives, vintage newspapers, and historical photographs spanning colonial America through the 20th century.
Explore local newspapers, yearbooks, passenger lists, and family records that reveal the everyday lives of past generations. Each collection is researched and presented with the care of a museum archive, providing historical context that helps bring America’s history and your family legacy to life.
Popular Research Guides
How to find a maiden name without a marriage certificate
Learn alternative methods using probate files, naming customs, and land deeds to uncover hidden maternal surnames.
How to find out what medals your grandfather won in WWII
Step-by-step guidance on navigating military discharge papers, unit rosters, and replacement medal applications.
How to find out what ship your ancestors came to America on
Discover how to decode historical passenger arrival manifests, customs logs, and early port citizenship applications.
What to do if an ancestor is missing from the 1900 census
Master workaround tactics using local state directories and annual county tax lists to pinpoint vanished families.
Your Family History is Safe With Us.
At SearchMyRecords, we believe your ancestry belongs to you alone. We use bank-grade data encryption and strict privacy protocols to guarantee that your searches, downloaded documents, and personal details remain 100% secure, private, and confidential.