Welcome To Your

Carter County, Kentucky

Genealogy Research Site

Carter County was formed in 1838 from Greenup and Lawrence counties. The elevation in the county ranges from 542 to 1300 feet above sea level.
In 2000, the county population was 26,889 in a land area of 411 square miles, an average of 60 people per square mile.

Carter County was named for Colonel William Grayson Carter,
who was a State Senator in the Kentucky legislature when the county was formed.
The county seat, Grayson, was named for his uncle, Colonel Robert Grayson.

Carter County is a land of forests and mountains. Our ecosystem is one of the most diverse on the continent.
The Appalachian Mountains are the rain forest of North America, home of nearly eighty species of trees. They may be the most ancient mountains on the earth.
Over the past 290 million years, advancing glacial ice sheets pressed down on the land north of the Ohio River many times. The glaciers never reached East Kentucky.
Many Native American tribes refused to climb the higher peaks in the Appalachians. They considered those heights sacred.

What's New on the Carter County Site

Click above to see what's been recently added or updated

Your Carter County Photo Album

Over 6,500 photographic treasures

You can search the entire Carter County site for specific keywords, surnames, places, etc.

Search this site powered by FreeFind
(34,011 pages indexed on July 2, 2009)

Remember, the contents of digital images and off-site links are not searched.

Transcribed Records and Document Images

"To speak the name of the dead is to make them live again." — ancient Egyptian inscription

"The information submitted to this website is a contribution to our common posterity.
As the custodians of these records and works, we will do everything in our power to secure your contributions,
and to assure that this material is freely made available to the greatest possible number of researchers,
for as long as possible into the future."

Affidavits of Descent
Audio and Video Recordings
Birth Records
Census Records
Court Records, Bible images, SSN Applications and Tax Records
Death Records
Deeds & Leases - Over 30,000 deed and deed index images
Letters, Journals, Ledgers, Diaries and Biographies - The journals are a "must read"!
Marriage Records
Military - Rosters, Histories and a section on local feuds.
Miscellaneous Historical Material, Employee Rosters and Politics/Politicians
Newspaper Clippings - Transcribed and Scanned Articles.
Obituaries - Over 6,500 Scanned Images and Transcriptions
Order Books - Partial Index to the County Order Books
Real Estate Mortgages
Schools - Yearbooks, Student & Employee Rosters.
Surnames - Carter County researchers' family charts and sites.
Wills
Carter County Archives - Births, Biographies, Church Records, Census, Deeds, Diaries, Marriage Records, Tax Lists, Obituaries and more!

Cemetery Records
"One of the sure ways to tell whether someone is from the mountains, or someone is a modern middle class American is to ask, 'Do you know where you're going to be buried?
Many mountain people know where they're going to be buried.
They're going to be buried back in the family cemetery."
- "The Appalachians" documentary, 2005
Erie School
A comprehensive photo history is being finalized.
Many new photos have been contributed by Lydia Justice-Edwards.

Lookup Volunteers
Links, Books, Document Interpretation and other resources
Maps, Aerial photos and Location Finder
Links to Nearby Counties
Reunion Page - Upcoming Carter County-related reunions. Also has a link to the statewide reunions page
Relationship Chart - Ever wonder if that person is your second cousin three times removed or your third cousin twice removed?
Weather & WUGO links
Carter County Music and Videos This will make your day!

Our Carter County Rails-to-Trails Project

Denton, Ky.
For those of you interested in the Denton area,
Martin McHenry has a tremendous site dedicated to that area.
It contains a lot of data not duplicated on this site.

Denton, Ky. Genealogy and History

Carter County Message Board
Maintained by: Kathleen Burnett

This is where you can post queries as well as many other messages.
Carter County Message Boards main page

Chat Room

Click here to open a separate page for the chat window. You can leave the chat window open and hopefully others will come in and join you.
You have to be using a browser with JavaScript enabled to use this feature. You may wish to try Tuesday at 7PM EST, or Thursday at 6PM EST.

Sign & View Our Guestbook

Send questions and comments to John Grace
(Coordinator since Feb. 19, 2003)

Special thanks and recognition to John Rucker, former Carter County site Coordinator

This page was last updated on -- Wednesday, 08-Jul-2009 08:41:40 MDT

Transcribed Records and Document Images "To speak the name of the dead is to make them live again." — ancient Egyptian inscription "The information submitted to this website is a contribution to our common posterity. As the custodians of these records and works, we will do everything in our power to secure your contributions, and to assure that this material is freely made available to the greatest possible number of researchers, for as long as possible into the future." Affidavits of Descent Audio and Video Recordings Birth Records Census Records Court Records, Bible images, SSN Applications and Tax Records Death Records Deeds & Leases - Over 30,000 deed and deed index images Letters, Journals, Ledgers, Diaries and Biographies - The journals are a "must read"! Marriage Records Military - Rosters, Histories and a section on local feuds. Miscellaneous Historical Material, Employee Rosters and Politics/Politicians Newspaper Clippings - Transcribed and Scanned Articles. Obituaries - Over 6,500 Scanned Images and Transcriptions Order Books - Partial Index to the County Order Books Real Estate Mortgages Schools - Yearbooks, Student & Employee Rosters. Surnames - Carter County researchers' family charts and sites. Wills Carter County Archives - Births, Biographies, Church Records, Census, Deeds, Diaries, Marriage Records, Tax Lists, Obituaries and more!
Cemetery Records "One of the sure ways to tell whether someone is from the mountains, or someone is a modern middle class American is to ask, 'Do you know where you're going to be buried? Many mountain people know where they're going to be buried. They're going to be buried back in the family cemetery." - "The Appalachians" documentary, 2005	Erie School A comprehensive photo history is being finalized. Many new photos have been contributed by Lydia Justice-Edwards.
Lookup Volunteers Links, Books, Document Interpretation and other resources Maps, Aerial photos and Location Finder Links to Nearby Counties Reunion Page - Upcoming Carter County-related reunions. Also has a link to the statewide reunions page Relationship Chart - Ever wonder if that person is your second cousin three times removed or your third cousin twice removed? Weather & WUGO links Carter County Music and Videos This will make your day! Our Carter County Rails-to-Trails Project
Denton, Ky. For those of you interested in the Denton area, Martin McHenry has a tremendous site dedicated to that area. It contains a lot of data not duplicated on this site. Denton, Ky. Genealogy and History	Carter County Message Board Maintained by: Kathleen Burnett This is where you can post queries as well as many other messages. Carter County Message Boards main page