Genealogy Resources

Explore your family history with our free online genealogy tools. You can use Ancestry Library Edition for free at any Library location. You can access our other free genealogy tools anywhere with an internet connection when you sign in with your Library account. For more information about our genealogy services, see our Genealogy program page.

Discover your ancestry

  • Library card required America’s GenealogyBank Access nearly 249 million U.S. genealogical records from 1690 to the present, including obituaries, marriage and birth announcements, military records and other government documents.
  • Available only in Library locations Ancestry Library Edition Interested in genealogy? We partnered with Ancestry.com to help you search billions of historical documents, photos, oral histories and more, from the 1500s to the present. This resource is available only in Library locations.
  • Library card required Biography and Genealogy Master Index Find biographical information about millions of people, both living and dead, from all over the world.
  • Library card required Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970 Explore thousands of detailed maps chart the growth and development of Seattle, other Puget Sound communities and more than 12,000 cities and towns across the United States.
  • Available only in Library locations FamilySearch Search the Family History Library catalog as well as digitized records, which include over 2 million rolls of microform and hundreds of thousands of books and maps related to family history and genealogical research.
  • Library card required HeritageQuest Online Explore these searchable and printable genealogy resources, including local and family histories, research guides and the complete U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1940. Powered by Ancestry.
  • Library card required New York Times Historical Curious about the past? Find full-text and full-image content from The New York Times, including articles, headlines, ads, obituaries and more. Contains full-text and images in PDF format of the New York Times from 1851 to three years before current year.
  • Library card required Seattle Times (1895- Current) Search fully digitized editions of The Seattle Times, and download and print full-text articles. Depending on the issue date, different formats of articles may be available. The Seattle Times Historical Archive (1895-1984) is made possible through a generous grant from The Seattle Public Library Foundation.

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