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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Some of My Favorite Texas Resources

Going through my extensive list of links for Texas genealogy in my efforts to add links to this blog was instructive. There were many broken links and many duplicate links. I’ve pulled out the main remaining ones and listed them below.

These links include websites that are about Texas research in general, and others which are specific to the main counties that I research: Dallas and the “Four Corners” area (Collin, Fannin, Grayson, and Hunt counties).

Texas General

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission – Genealogy

As was the case with South Carolina, the State Archives page is the place to begin. The website also has wonderful resources: searches will either produce the order information you need for certain documents, or digital images of the documents. It has been a few years since I ordered documents from them, but when I did, they were prompt and the prices were not just inexpensive, but cheap.


The Texas GenWeb Project

Lots of wonderful links.


Texas Genealogy Links

Another excellent website for starting research. The main page contains general Texas links, and there is a link prominently featured near the top of the page directing you to individual pages of links for each county.


The Portal to Texas History

This site is sponsored by the University of North Texas Libraries’ Digital Projects Unit. There are links to a number of Texas historical documents. Simply go to the search page, enter your search terms, and choose the type of search you want to do. It’s awesome.


Lone Star History Links

As it says on the page, the pages features “Selected Texas History Primary Source Documents.” The links are done in the form of a general outline of Texas history. Simply click on the era you want to research, and you will be taken to a page with a bibliography and links. This site is put up by the Texas State Historical Association, which also runs the TSHA Press and the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and there are links to the pages for both of these. This is an essential website for Texas research.


Handbook of Texas Online

This is another project sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association. It’s very useful, but a bit of caution should be exercised in using it because the format and content are wiki-like in nature; the articles are written by many different people and vary in quality.


History of the Lone Star State – TEXAS

Another page with an extensive list of links to various research aids, including timelines, primary documents, websites, maps, landmarks, and tons and tons of history by event/era.


The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy

This project was sponsored by the Yale Law School. The Texas page is another excellent set of links to various Texas historical documents.


Published Primary Sources in ACC Learning Centers Having to Do With History of Texas

Here “ACC” refers to Austin Community College. More Texas history links.


Lone Star Junction

All things Texan.


Texas Genealogy Research

Links to some of the main sites for Texas research.


Lone Star Genealogy

Has a good general collection of Texas links plus pictures, interesting facts, and other miscellanea.


Texas Genealogy and History Books

This is part of The Olden Times: Historic Newspapers Online. A good list of books for Texas research (both general and county by county), with a link to Abebooks if you are interested in purchasing a book.

Historic Texas Newspapers Online

The page on The Olden Times for Texas newspapers.


Texas General Land Office

A useful resource for doing research involving various forms of land conveyance in Texas (Spanish titles, bounty, donation, headright, etc.)


Texas Cemetery Records

The Texas page on Interment.net. Not all of the counties are covered.


Texas Census Transcriptions Online

Another of the DistantCousin.com pages with links to free census transcriptions.


Texas Free Genealogy Look Ups from GeneaSearch Lookup Volunteers


Texas Vitals

Free Texas Marriage Records Online

County-by-county links to online transcriptions of marriage books.

Or you can use:

Texas Marriages Search Engine

Texas Divorces Search Engine

Texas Births, 1926-1995

A free, searchable database.


Collin County

Collin County Genealogical Society

Collin County Texas Research

The first link above is the Society’s webpage and the second page contains links to the newsletter, Collin County Chronicles, as well as some of the Society’s projects.


Collin County Historical Records


Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries

A great place to contact people who will do lookups in return for a small donation to the library.


Frisco Genealogical Society


Dallas

Jim Wheat’s Dallas County Texas Archives

The GenWeb website that really got me started; it’s where I found a transcription of the death certificate of my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore. Lots of good links, transcriptions of newspaper articles, maps, and much more.


Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division of the Dallas Public Library


Dallas Historical Society Home Page


Dallas Genealogical Society


Dallas County Pioneer Association


Dallas Morning News – Historical Archive

You can view search results but have to pay for downloads; the Dallas Morning News archive is also available on Genealogy Bank.


Lancaster Genealogical Society

This page has been very useful for me since it focuses on the actual part of Dallas County where my mother’s ancestors lived.


Other Texas Counties and Areas

Baylor County, Texas GenWeb

My home county in Texas!


Fannin County Texas GenWeb


Grayson County, Texas GenWeb


Hunt County, Texas GenWeb


North Texas Genealogical Association


The above list only scratches the surface. There are many more useful websites out there with transcriptions, searchable databases, volunteers, historical background, and much more. I’m so glad that I’m a Texan and that I have Texas ancestors to research.

1 comment:

  1. I wish I had Texan roots! Bet a lot of people will appreciate your list.

    ReplyDelete