| Sorted by California census & voter lists | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 | 70,501,340 |
| California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898 | 3,682,335 |
| California, U.S., State Census, 1852 | 164,511 |
| California, U.S., Index to Census Roll of Indians, 1928-1933 | 26,744 |
| California, U.S., Spanish Mission Censuses, 1796-1798 | 4,720 |
| View all California census & voter lists (8) |
| Sorted by California birth, marriage & death | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California Birth Index, 1905-1995 | 24,586,196 |
| California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985 | 9,800,418 |
| California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997 | 9,356,987 |
| California, U.S., Divorce Index, 1966-1984 | 5,221,035 |
| U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 | 4,530,453 |
| View all California birth, marriage & death (41) |
| Sorted by California military | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 | 54,144,553 |
| U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 | 14,501,913 |
| U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 | 12,889,430 |
| California, U.S., Military Registers, 1858-1923 | 142,771 |
| California, U.S., State Roster Government and Military records, 1909 | 25,712 |
| View all California military (14) |
| Sorted by California immigration & emigration | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 | 6,431,854 |
| U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 | 5,878,587 |
| U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project)Free | 5,810,303 |
| California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999 | 5,232,683 |
| U.S., Applications for Seaman's Protection Certificates, 1916-1940 | 320,331 |
| View all California immigration & emigration (8) |
| Sorted by California newspapers & periodicals | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index | 1,067,030,707 |
| Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) | 526,400 |
| San Diego Union-Tribune (California) Obituaries, 1993-1994 | 11,548 |
| View other newspapers & periodicals collections related to California (75) |
| Sorted by California pictures | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., World War I Soldier Photographs, 1917-1918Free | 4,800 |
| View other pictures collections related to California (16) |
| Sorted by California directories & member lists | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., Railroad Employment Records, 1862-1950Free | 5,689,563 |
| California, U.S., Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969 | 848,561 |
| U.S., Selected States Dutch Reformed Church Membership Records, 1701-1995 | 465,389 |
| San Francisco, California Directories, 1889-91 | 252,944 |
| U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Membership Records, 1856-1970 | 210,143 |
| View all California directories & member lists (16) |
| Sorted by California court, land, wills & financial | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| California, U.S., San Mateo County Records, 1855-1991 | 1,595,496 |
| California, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1850-1953 | 374,446 |
| California, U.S., Prison and Correctional Records, 1851-1950 | 284,800 |
| California, U.S., Alien Land Ownership Records, 1921-1952Free | 39,170 |
| California, U.S., Spanish Land Records, 1784-1868Free | 1,827 |
| View all California court, land, wills & financial (8) |
| Sorted by California dictionaries, encyclopedias & reference | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| Who's Who on the Pacific Coast, 1913Free | 3,701 |
| California, U.S., Cemetery Inscription Sources, 1994 | 3,169 |
| Register of the California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution | 325 |
| birth place, age, residence, etc., of the officers of state, Supreme Court, and members of the Legislature of California | 9 |
| View other dictionaries, encyclopedias & reference collections related to California (92) |
| Sorted by California maps, atlases & gazetteers | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| There are no maps, atlases & gazetteers collections unique to California | |
| View other maps, atlases & gazetteers collections related to California (8) |
| Sorted by California stories, memories & histories | Sort by Count |
|---|---|
| An Enduring Legacy | 26,448 |
| California, U.S., Biographical Index Cards, 1781-1990Free | 7,406 |
| U.S., Women of the West, 1928Free | 4,669 |
| Who's Who on the Pacific Coast, 1913Free | 3,701 |
| California, Pioneer Index, 1769-1848 | 2,980 |
| View all California stories, memories & histories (48) |
A genealogical history
Statehood: 9 September 1850
Capital: Sacramento
Largest City: Los Angeles
Counties: 58
State motto: Eureka (I Have Found It)
State nickname: The Golden State
Neighboring states: Oregon, Nevada, Arizona
San Juan Capistrano mission, California, 1921
Interesting facts
- In 1769, the Spanish established California's first mission. By 1823, twenty-one missions had been built, stretching from San Diego to Sonoma along El Camino Real, "The King's Highway."
- Both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous 48 states are in California: Death Valley (282 feet below sea level) and Mount Whitney (elevation 14,496).
- California's population grew from an estimated 26,000 before the Gold Rush in 1848 to just under 380,000 in the 1860 U.S. Census.
- California has been the most populous state in the U.S. since the early 1960s.
Featured California collections
Famous people
Help and advice
Resources
California Census Research Notes
California became a state in 1849, and was first recorded in the Federal census of 1850. The 1850 census for California is missing schedules from Contra Costa, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.
The only state census of California was taken in 1852. A few early censuses were taken by the following missions prior to statehood, including: San Carlos (1796); San Luis Obispo (1797, 1798); San Antonio (1798); and Soledad (1798). Various other state and mission censuses are available for select locales and years, though rarely involve more than small groups of inhabitants.
Vital records
- State of California Department of Health Services: holds birth, marriage, death, and divorce records from July 1905. For earlier records, write to the clerk of the county where the event was recorded.
- Western States marriage index - (BYU Idaho) special collections: a searchable index to marriages in several western states, including California. See the web site for specific counties and years included in the index.
California Research Resources
The organizations listed below provide information about California history and genealogy. In addition to these state-level resources, many counties and towns maintain important genealogical collections in local libraries, genealogical societies, or historical societies, so check for a local resource when researching.
- California State Archives: Family history resources held by the state archives in Sacramento include census, military, court, prison, county, and many other records.
- California State Library: Describes the extensive resources the California History Room in Sacramento and the genealogy-focused Sutro Library in San Francisco.
- California Genealogical Society and Library
- California GenWeb: Links to county-level genealogy pages, searchable archives, and research helps such as marriage records and the California Pioneer Project.
- RootsWeb California Resources: Contains links to California genealogy resources, including state and county-level websites; societies and organizations; and personal and miscellaneous web sites related to California research.
- Southern California Genealogical Society: Sponsors the Jamboree, a popular annual genealogy conference, and maintains a large research library.
- California Historical Society
- Online Archive of California: This finding aid contains detailed descriptions of collections held by museums, archives, and libraries, and includes digital images from many institutions.
- National Archives at Riverside: This facility holds materials from Federal agencies and courts in Arizona, southern California, and Clark County, Nevada.
- National Archives at San Francisco: This facility holds materials from Federal agencies and courts in northern and central California, Nevada (except Clark County, which is held at Riverside), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (i.e. Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands>
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM) General Land Office Records: The BLM administers Federal Land for public land states including California, and maintains records of land patents which granted land from the Federal Government to individuals. Use the Land Patent Search to locate land grants by name. Many record images are available on the web site. See the FAQ for more information on how to locate and use land patents.
- Library of Congress American Memory collection: includes California as I saw it, a series of first-person narratives from California’s early years, and The Chinese in California.
- Chronicling America: Online newspapers: Provides searchable online versions of selected California newspapers.
- California Historical Newspaper project: The Center for Bibliographic Studies at University of California, Riverside maintains several projects related to California newspapers, including a searchable collection of digitized newspapers; a listing of California newspapers; and a listing of titles in the California Newspaper Microfilm Archive.