Today’s state, Florida, has comparatively few digitized county histories. If you are seeking out books about Florida family, you should look for county histories that are still under copyright. That means locating a hard copy of the book – I’d recommend searching in WorldCat to determine where the closest copy is to you.
FAQ
1. While every county in the state is listed, links are only provided for titles that no longer fall under U.S. copyright laws. All (almost) links connect to free websites.
2. There are a few instances when a book has been digitized, but is only found on a paid site. In that case, no link is inserted, but a note as to the website where it has been found is given.
3. When a state history has also been found in digital format, it is listed in the STATE section that precedes the county list. I have limited STATE entries to those with county histories/biographical volumes in them.
4. There are a number of counties that DO have histories written, BUT they remain copyrighted material. Therefore, if a county has NONE after its name, it doesn’t mean there is no county history, just that none has been digitized. It’s also possible that the only digitized county history is included in one of the state volumes, so be sure to check those entries.
5. If the book is on FamilySearch, you will need a free account to access it. This list does NOT include town histories.
6. When all fifty states have been completed, I will post a PDF of them all.
7. One last note – it is very possible that a book is digitally available on more than one website. I’ve only included links to one site per book.
FLORIDA
STATE – Florida edition [of] makers of America: an historical and biographical work, Volume 1, Florida Historical Society, A.B. Caldwell, Atlanta, 1909. [FamilySearch film, Item 1]
STATE – Florida edition [of] makers of America: an historical and biographical work, Volume 2, Florida Historical Society, A.B. Caldwell, Atlanta, 1909.
STATE – Florida edition [of] makers of America: an historical and biographical work, Volume 3, Florida Historical Society, A.B. Caldwell, Atlanta, 1909.
STATE – Florida edition [of] makers of America: an historical and biographical work, Volume 4, Florida Historical Society, A.B. Caldwell, Atlanta, 1911.
STATE – Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida, Richard L. Campbell, Williams Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1892.
STATE – Memoirs of Florida : embracing a general history of the province, territory and state; and special chapters devoted to finances and banking, the bench and bar, medical profession, railways and navigation, and industrial interests, Volume 1, Rowland H. Rerick & Francis Philip Fleming, Southern Historical Association, Atlanta, Georgia, 1902.
STATE – Memoirs of Florida : embracing a general history of the province, territory and state; and special chapters devoted to finances and banking, the bench and bar, medical profession, railways and navigation, and industrial interests, Volume 2, Rowland H. Rerick & Francis Philip Fleming, Southern Historical Association, Atlanta, Georgia, 1902.
ALACHUA – History of Alachua County, Jess G. Davis, Alachua County Historical Commission, Gainesville, Florida, 1969.
ALACHUA – Alachua, the garden county of Florida, its resources and advantages, John W. Ashby, Alachua County Immigration Association, Gainesville, Florida, 1888.
BAKER – Baker County Centennial Celebration, May 4-7, 1961, Baker County Centennial Executive Committee, Macclenny, Florida, 1961.
BAY – NONE
BRADFORD – NONE
BREVARD – A brief description of Brevard County, Florida, or the Indian River country; its climate, health, products, etc, DaCosta Printing House, Jacksonville, Florida, 1891.
BROWARD – NONE
CALHOUN – NONE
CHARLOTTE – NONE
CITRUS – NONE
CLAY – NONE
COLLIER – NONE
COLUMBIA – NONE
DADE – History of Dade County, Florida, Traci Hollingsworth, c1936.
DADE – Miami and Dade County, Florida: its settlement, progress, and achievement, Ethan V. Blackman, Victor Rainbolt, Washington, DC, 1921.
DESOTO – NONE
DIXIE – NONE
DUVAL – History of Duval County, Florida, including early history of east Florida, Pleasant Daniel Gold, The Record, St. Augustine, Florida, 1922.
ESCAMBIA – NONE
FLAGLER – NONE
FRANKLIN – NONE
GADSDEN – History of Gadsden County, J. Randall Stanley, Gadsden County Historical Commission, Quincy, Florida, 1948.
GILCHRIST – NONE
GLADES – NONE
GULF – NONE
HAMILTON – NONE
HARDEE – NONE
HENDRY – NONE
HERNANDO – NONE
HIGHLANDS – NONE
HILLSBOROUGH – NONE
HOLMES – NONE
INDIAN RIVER – NONE
JACKSON – NONE
JEFFERSON – NONE
LAFAYETTE – NONE
LAKE – NONE
LEE – NONE
LEON – NONE
LEVY – Index to Search for yesterday; a history of Levy County, Florida, Alvie L. Davidson & Dianne Davidson, Lakeland, Florida, c1997.
LIBERTY – NONE
MADISON – NONE
MANATEE – The Land of Manatee . . ., , No. 1, Morton M. Casseday, F. Presbrey Company, New York, 1902.
MANATEE – The Land of Manatee . . ., , No. 1, Morton M. Casseday, F. Presbrey Company, New York, 1905.
MARION – NONE
MARTIN – NONE
MONROE – NONE
NASSAU – NONE
OKALOOSA – NONE
OKEECHOBEE – NONE
ORANGE – Early settlers of Orange County, Florida: reminiscent-historic-biographic, Clarence E. Howard, 1915.
OSCEOLA – History of Osceola County: Florida frontier life, Minnie Moore Willson, Inland Press, Orlando, Florida, 1935.
PALM BEACH – NONE
PASCO – NONE
PINELLAS – Pinellas: a brief history of the Lower Point, John A. Bethell, Press of the Independent Job Department, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1914.
POLK – History of Polk County, Florida: narrative and biographical, M.F. Hetherington, Record Company, St. Augustine, Florida, 1928.
PUTNAM – NONE
ST. JOHNS – NONE
ST. LUCIE – NONE
SANTA ROSA – NONE
SARASOTA – NONE
SEMINOLE – NONE
SUMTER – NONE
SUWANNEE – NONE
TAYLOR – NONE
UNION – NONE
VOLUSIA – Annals of Volusia, 1558-1978: birthplace of Volusia County, Lillian Dillard Gibson, R.A. Gibson, Volusia, Florida, 1978.
VOLUSIA – History of Volusia County, Florida, Pleasant Daniel Gold, E.O. Painter Printing Company, Deland, Florida, 1927.
WAKULLA – NONE
WALTON – History of Walton County, John Love McKinnon, Byrd Printing Company, Atlanta, Georgia, 1911.
WASHINGTON – NONE