New Horizons Genealogy

"Specializing in New England and New York Colonial American Ancestry"


Search Free Pennsylvania Genealogy Records Online

Before statehood: Province of Pennsylvania

Admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2nd)

State Capital: Harrisburg


Try our genealogy search engine


Search Free Pennsylvania Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.

Our Pennsylvania genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.

We regret that we are unable to do personal research for you. All genealogical and family history records we come across are being added to this website. Please keep checking back.


History

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, son of the state's namesake; a southeast portion of the state was once part of the colony of New Sweden. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism. Pennsylvania was one of thirteen British colonies from which the nation was formed.

Pennsylvania played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire. Its largest city, Philadelphia, was the gathering place of the nation's Founding Fathers and home to much of the thinking, activism, and writing that inspired the American Revolution. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in Carpenters' Hall in 1774, and, beginning the following year, the Second Continental Congress in Independence Hall, which in 1776 unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, a document that historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history" and which formally launched the American Revolutionary War.


Free Pennsylvania Genealogy Records Online By Category


Free Pennsylvania Genealogy Records Online by County

Click on the name of the county, and see the genealogical and historical information it holds.

CountyFormedParent CountyCounty Seat
Adams County1800Parts of York County.Gettysburg
Allegheny County1788Parts of Washington and Westmoreland Counties.Pittsburgh
Armstrong County1800Parts of Allegheny, Lycoming, and Westmoreland Counties.Kittanning
Beaver County1800Parts of Allegheny and Washington Counties.Beaver
Bedford County1771Parts of Cumberland County.Bedford
Berks County1752Parts of Chester, Lancaster and Philadelphia Counties.Reading
Blair County1846Parts of Huntingdon and Bedford Counties.Hollidaysburg
Bradford County1810Parts of Luzerne and Lycoming Counties; originally called Ontario County, renamed as Bradford County in 1812.Towanda
Bucks County1682One of the original counties at the formation of PennsylvaniaDoylestown
Butler County1800Parts of Allegheny County.Butler
Cambria County1804Parts of Somerset and Huntingdon Counties.Ebensburg
Cameron County1860Parts of Clinton, Elk, McKean, and Potter Counties.Emporium
Carbon County1843Parts of Monroe and Northampton Counties.Jim Thorpe
Centre County1800Parts of Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland, and Huntingdon Counties.Bellefonte
Chester County1682One of the original counties at the formation of Pennsylvania.West Chester
Clarion County1839Parts of Venango and Armstrong Counties.Clarion
Clearfield County1804Parts of Lycoming and Huntingdon Counties; Clearfield functioned as a part of Centre County for judiciary purposes until 1822.Clearfield
Clinton County1839Parts of Lycoming and Centre Counties.Lock Haven
Columbia County1813Parts of Northumberland and Luzerne Counties.Bloomsburg
Crawford County1800Parts of Allegheny County.Meadville
Cumberland County1750Parts of Lancaster County.Carlisle
Dauphin County1785Parts of Lancaster County.Harrisburg
Delaware County1789Parts of Chester County.Media
Elk County1843Parts of Jefferson, McKean, and Clearfield Counties.Ridgway
Erie County1800Parts of Allegheny County; attached to Crawford County until 1803.Erie
Fayette County1783Parts of Westmoreland County.Uniontown
Forest County1848Parts of Jefferson County; attached to Jefferson County until 1857.Tionesta
Franklin County1784Parts of Cumberland County.Chambersburg
Fulton County1850Parts of Bedford County.McConnellsburg
Greene County1796Parts of Washington County.Waynesburg
Huntingdon County1787Parts of Bedford County.Huntingdon
Indiana County1803Parts of Lycoming and Westmoreland Counties; it was attached to Westmoreland County until 1806.Indiana
Jefferson County1804Parts of Lycoming County. Attached to Westmoreland County until 1806 and to Indiana County until 1830.Brookville
Juniata County1831Parts of Mifflin County.Mifflintown
Lackawanna County1878Parts of Luzerne County.Scranton
Lancaster County1729Parts of Chester County.Lancaster
Lawrence County1849Parts of Beaver and Mercer Counties.New Castle
Lebanon County1813Parts of Dauphin and Lancaster Counties.Lebanon
Lehigh County1812Parts of Northampton County.Allentown
Luzerne County1786Parts of Northumberland County.Wilkes-Barre
Lycoming County1795Parts of Northumberland County.Williamsport
McKean County1804Parts of Lycoming County; Attached to Centre County until 1814 and to Lycoming County until 1826 for judicial and elective purposes. McKean was fully organized only in 1826.Smethport
Mercer County1800Parts of Allegheny County.Mercer
Mifflin County1789Parts of Cumberland and Northumberland Counties.Lewistown
Monroe County1836Parts of Pike and Northampton Counties.Stroudsburg
Montgomery County1784Parts of Philadelphia County.Norristown
Montour County1850Parts of Columbia County.Danville
Northampton County1752Parts of Bucks County.Easton
Northumberland County1772Parts of Lancaster, Berks, Bedford, Cumberland, and Northampton Counties.Sunbury
Perry County1820Parts of Cumberland County.New Bloomfield
Philadelphia County1682One of the original counties at the formation of Pennsylvania.Philadelphia
Pike County1814Parts of Wayne County.Milford
Potter County1804From Lycoming county. Attached to Lycoming County until 1826 and to McKean County until 1835 for judicial purposes, Potter was not fully organized until 1835.Coudersport
Schuylkill County1811Parts of Berks and Northampton Counties.Pottsville
Snyder County1855Parts of Union County.Middleburg
Somerset County1795Parts of Bedford County.Somerset
Sullivan County1847Parts of Lycoming County; attached to Lycoming until 1848.Laporte
Susquehanna County1810Parts of Luzerne County ; attached to Luzerne County until 1812.Montrose
Tioga County1804Parts of Lycoming County; attached to Lycoming until 1812.Wellsboro
Union County1813Parts of Northumberland County.Lewisburg
Venango County1800Parts of Allegheny and Lycoming Counties; attached to until 1805.Franklin
Warren County1800Parts of Allegheny and Lycoming counties; attached to Crawford County until 1805 and then to Venango until Warren was formally organized in 1819.Warren
Washington County1781Parts of Westmoreland County.Washington
Wayne County1798Parts of Northampton County.Honesdale
Westmoreland County1773Parts of Bedford County.Greensburg
Wyoming County1842Parts of Luzerne County.Tunkhannock
York County1749Parts of Lancaster County.York

Genealogical Research in Pennsylvania

State Library of Pennsylvania
Genealogy/Local History Section
Forum Building
Walnut & Commonwealth
P.O. Box 1601
Harrisburg, PA 17105
Phone: (717) 787-4440

Pennsylvania State Archives
Third & Forster Streets
P.O. Box 1026
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026
Phone: (717) 783-3281


Adjacent States and Province


If you know of a Pennsylvania Genealogy link that should be added to this list, please Contact us