Centre County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 1135
State College, PA 16804-1135
The CCGS maintains no facility as it were, but rather supports all of those research sites that attempt to assist patrons with genealogical information about Centre County families. Publications from CCGS' massive cemetery project and other resources, membership surname file, and back issues of CCGS newsletters can be found at both the Pennsylvania Room of the Centre County Library and Historical Museum in Bellefonte and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Family History Center in State College. CCGS will perform limited genealogical research for a fee for those unable to visit Centre County research sites - visit their website for information.
MOST IMPORTANT GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH SITES IN THE COUNTY:
Centre County Library and Historical Museum
203 N. Allegheny Street
Bellefonte, PA 16823-1601
814-355-1516
HOURS: Monday-Friday 10-5 p.m. and Saturday 10-4 p.m.
Brief lookups and limited research assistance are available by contacting the Pennsylvania Room. Brief, simple lookups are free of charge, however, for obituary requests, etc. there is a small charge.
Without question the premier site for genealogical research in Centre County. Its cornerstone is the massive Spangler Collection which has a 250,000 name entries index to persons appearing in various county records assembled before 1945. The J. Marvin Lee Collection is a good complement of the Spangler records and focuses on the work of a local genealogist who assembled group sheets of early Centre County families through the 1980s. In addition, to these two significant collections, there are obituary and marriage indexes, census records, more than 700 published family histories, and all sorts of other resources round out the collection. Tax records from 1800 to 1950, estate files, and marriage license dockets 1885-1990 can be found in the basement. Upstairs, all of the U.S. census records for Centre County (and a few neighboring counties) can be found on Microfilm. Deed indexes and/or images are also available online and free of charge at the Pennsylvania Room through Centre County Government Web Information Access. Even if you have few or no Centre County ancestors, this is a marvelous research facility for pursuing ancestors. Recent additions to its growing CD-collection are the complete set of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society Register as well as 1880 U.S. Census for the entire United States. Both have searchable indexes on CD.
Willowbank Annex of the Centre County Courthouse
414 Holmes Street
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Perhaps the second most important spot for genealogical searching in the county is the courthouse annex in a site that was the former hospital. Located in the wing closest to Willowbank Street are offices (that moved out of the courthouse in March 1998) of the Recorder of Deeds (with grantee and grantor indexes) and Register of Wills (with birth and death records, 1894-1906, and will books and more recent estate records; however, the earlier estate records are in the library basement). Through a different entrance (actually it is the main one) to the Willowbank Building, patrons can find their way to the tax assessment office (to locate a name of someone currently owning property at a known location in the county), the elections office (where current voter lists are maintained as well as records of past elections) and the Veterans office which has some limited information about veterans burials.
Centre County Courthouse
Bellefonte, PA 16823-3005
814-355-6700
This is a beehive of current activity at the civil and criminal court level. Earliest records of Quarter Sessions Reports, and divorce records, amongst other things, can be accessed at the Prothonotary's office.
Pattee and Paterno Libraries
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
The benefits of a major university library go unquestioned and can be bewildering to many folks who discover that Penn State's great library is comprised of two libraries -- Pattee and Paterno. While Pattee library has some published family histories (that can be found in the stacks at CT in the Library of Congress classification scheme and 929.2 in Dewey Decimal scheme) and the American Genealogical Index, most searchers with a Centre County focus find their way to microforms where most of Centre County's 19th Century newspapers are housed as well as all Pennsylvania censuses from 1790 to 1930 can be accessed. 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses also have soundex indexes here. In microforms, there is a small table set up of genealogical sources/indexes. The Special Collections Library in 104 Paterno (only open 8-5, Mon-Fri) has amongst its Historical Collections and Labor Archives a microfilm collection of the old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1880-1935, mostly of the incorporated areas of the county, as well as throughout the state. In addition, the Social Sciences Library Micro Collection on the second floor of Paterno has two items of interest to researchers-- a microfiche collection of old Centre County land plot maps and other counties as well (at G3821.G46 svar.L5 1983 in Cabinet 67), and Pennsylvania Bureau of Land Records Warrant Registers (at Microfilm D302 in Cabinet 51).
Special Collections Library
104 Paterno Library
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-7931 or 814-865-1793
Historical Collections and Labor Archives
University Archives
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Family History Center
842 Whitehall Road
State College, PA 16802
814-238-4560
HOURS:
Tuesday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Wednesday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
It is suggested to call to confirm hours for days near holidays.
There are three or four shelves of local history material housed here, but the cornerstone of the collection is the Family History suite of resources including the International Genealogical Index, Ancestral File, Social Security Index, etc., which can easily be searched using CDs. Patrons may also borrow films for a modest fee from the massive Family History Center in Salt Lake City.
OTHER HISTORICAL SITES IN THE COUNTY WITH LIMITED GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES:
Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association
P.O. Box 141
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society
Train Station
Bellefonte, PA 16823
814-355-0311
Boalsburg Heritage Museum
P.O. Box 346
Boalsburg PA 16827
814-466-6582
Centre County Historical Society
1001 East College Ave.
State College, PA 16801
814-234-4779
Housed in the Centre Furnace Mansion near State College, the CCHS has a limited genealogical research facility and generally directs genealogists to the library in Bellefonte. However, the CCHS Library, which patrons may visit by appointment, contains books on county, state, and regional history including the iron industry and other areas of historic interest. Visit CCHS Library to view their online listing of holdings. CCHS also has some excellent historical exhibits about Centre County whose focus change periodically. In addition, its fine journal, Centre County Heritage occasionally highlights specific families and have focused, for example, on early land warrants in Potter and Miles Townships. Past issues of the journal can be found at the Pennsylvania Room of the Centre County Library and Historical Museum in Bellefonte as well as Pattee Library on the Penn State campus.
Centre County Library including facilities at Aaronsburg, Bellefonte, Centre Hall and Philipsburg
203 North Allegheny Street
Bellefonte, PA 16823
814-355-1516
Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum
P.O. Box 116
Boalsburg PA 16827-0116
814-466-6210
Eagle Iron Works
Curtin Village
Curtin, PA
814-355-1982
Matson Museum of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
409 Carpenter Building
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-2509
Max Kade German-American Research Institute
304 Burrowes Bldg.
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-9816
Pasto Agricultural Museum
238 Agricultural Admin Bldg.
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-1383
Penns Valley Area Historical Museum
244 West Aaron Square
Aaronsburg, PA 16820
814-349-4811
Pennsylvania Military Museum
P.O. Box 160A
Boalsburg, PA 16827
Philipsburg Historical Foundation
203 North Front Street
Philipsburg, PA 16866
814-342-7115
Schlow Memorial Library
100 E. Beaver Avenue
State College, PA 16801-4986
814-237-6236