Perhaps the most interesting story you’ll ever encounter branches from your own family tree. Genealogy, or the study of exploring your family history, opens up a world of information specific to you as the researcher. Washington County Library has tools, events, and materials to help you explore more about your ancestors.

From programs that help you crack into Genealogy 101 with confidence, to using the Ancestry.com Library Edition*, to materials that help you in your search or fill in the historical gaps, you can find what you need to learn more about the family who came before you with Washington County Library. (And there’s no DNA testing necessary!)

In addition to these useful Washington County Library resources, our librarians recommend these websites to broaden your search as you begin the detective work of hunting down clues about your family:

Cyndislist.com - A comprehensive, categorized, and cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online

Familysearch.org - A free website, run by the Genealogical Society of Utah that offers access to a huge collection of online source and resources

UsGenWeb.org - A directory of genealogy websites in every county and every state in the United States 

WorldGenWeb.org - A directory of genealogy websites from around the world

Archives.gov - The National Archives contain immigration records, naturalization records, census records, military records, and land records 

*Available for use in Washington County Library locations