Pennsylvania is quite the opposite of some of the more recent western U.S. states for which I’ve created lists of free online resources for genealogists.
Pennsylvania is a smaller state geographically, at least compared to some of the huge western states, but it has a LOT of genealogically and historically related records available.
Having said that, I’ve not found Pennsylvania to be the easiest state to navigate when it comes to locating those documents. In fact, my husband’s Revolutionary War ancestor, Jacob Miller, of Northampton County and Dave’s 4X great grandmother, Elsie Larrison, apparently born to Larrison parents living somewhere in Pennsylvania in the 1760s, are two of the brick walls in Dave’s family tree.
Because there are so many local libraries, societies and record depositories in Pennsylvania, this list will be far from comprehensive. There are just too many counties! However, if a county website came up in my search while compiling this list, I’ve included it.
Also, if you’ve found a fabulous Pennsylvania resource that I haven’t listed, please leave a comment and let me know so I can add it.
I would strongly suggest that you begin with a visit to the FamilySearch wiki for an excellent overview of Pennsylvania records:
FamilySearch – Pennsylvania Online Genealogy Records
Here is a basic list to get you started with Pennsylvania genealogy records available online:
Allegheny County – Finding Family and Historical Records
Ancestral Findings – Tracing Your Pennsylvania Ancestors
Archives Records Information Access System (ARIAS) – Pennsylvania State Archives
Berks County Genealogical Society – Note links on the right side of the page to historical maps
Butler County Historical Society – Genealogy
Chester County, PA – Birth, Death & marriages Index
Chester County Pennsylvania Genealogy Project
Free Library of Philadelphia – Genealogy
Genealogical Resources at the Philadelphia City Archives
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Genealogy Trails – Pennsylvania
German Society of Pennsylvania
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania – Special Collections and University Archives
Kutztown University – Rohrbach Library Digital Collections
Lancaster County – Genealogy Research: Historical Indexes
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society – Genealogy Resources
Linkpendium – Pennsylvania
Louis Shotridge Digital Archive – Tlingit history
Mansfield University – MU History Online
Montgomery County – Genealogy Information
New Horizons Genealogy – Pennsylvania
Online Pennsylvania Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries
PAGenWeb – records organized by county
Penn State University Libraries – Genealogy & Family History
Penn State University Libraries – Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive
Pennsylvania FREE Genealogy Databases
Pennsylvania Genealogy – RAOGK
Pennsylvania Historic Newspapers – State Library of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Pennsylvania Vital Records Indexes
Power Library – PA Photos and Documents
ThoughtCo. Pennsylvania Genealogy Online
Uniontown Public Library (Fayette County) – Genealogy & History
University of Pennsylvania – University Archives Digital Image Collection
Washington County Library – Citizens Genealogy and Local History – In spite of the notice about the librarian being gone for the month of September 2017, the links are all working.
Excellent list! My husband has many Pennsylvania ancestors and this will be very helpful. Thanks.