Tuesday’s Genealogy Tip – Create a Location Guide

Did your ancestors move around?

Sometimes our ancestors stayed put.  I quickly discovered how fortunate I am that my ancestors appeared to be homebodies. Well, at least my direct ancestral lines were. Tracking their records through the same county made for more efficient research.

Some of those collateral lines went far and wide. With each new county and state, learning what records existed and where those records were located was important in tracking those ancestors.  Over time, I have created  research resource guides for locations where my ancestors lived.

When your ancestors moved to a new location, we must research that location – that county, that state or that country – about what was going on in that community and what resources and repositories are available.

Today’s tip involves what to do with that information.

I want you to create for yourself your own location guide.

Create an actual file or document you can  keep it Dropbox , Evernote or Google Drive. Keeping your location guide the cloud allows you to have easy access to the information.

Examples of the types of information you might need include:

• the types of repositories that are available
• their hours
• where is the parking
• Types of records held
• And more….

Also include who might be good resources in the area and what historical or genealogical societies in the area might be available to give you some help as well.

So, create your own location guide. 

Find a link to a sample location research guide for Wake County, NC at the bottom of this post. I did this a number of years ago, and have updated it recently, so you can see what I’ve done. It is nothing formal, just use it as an example. This one works for me and that’s the important part. Tweak yours until it works for you.

When I am researching Wake County ancestors, I know immediately which repository I need to go to and what the hours are. I can go to one place in my notes and know the hours of operation and even how how much copies cost so I know I will have enough quarters or cash to take with me.

Happy Researching!

See a sample of the Wake County, North Carolina locality guide I created several years ago (Updated October 2017).

Download (PDF, 242KB)