A potpourri of links for Chicago and Cook County genealogy; Illinois genealogy; Archives / Libraries / Societies; and General genealogy.
CHICAGO and COOK COUNTY GENEALOGY
- CEMETERIES
Acacia Park Cemetery
Bohemian National Cemetery
Catholic Cemeteries at the Archdiocese of Chicago
Cook County Cemeteries (Internment.net)
Cook County Cemeteries (ISGS Cemetery Location Project)
Graceland Cemetery map
Graveyards of Chicago
Mount Hope Cemetery
Mount Olive Cemetery
Register of Confederate soldiers who died in Camp Douglas, 1862-65 and lie buried in Oakwoods Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery
Wunders Cemetery, Chicago - a CGS publication (and an Ancestry.com $ database)
- CENSUS
A Look At Cook County
- CHURCHES
Ada St. M.E. Church of Chicago: 1877 directory
Archdiocese of Chicago
Archdiocese of Chicago Archives and Records Center
Catholic Churches in Chicago
Catholic Churches in Chicago in 1926
Chicago Church and Synagogue Records
Chicago Parish Histories collection at the University of Notre Dame
Church of the Epiphany, Ashland Boulevard and Adams Street: Parish history and year book (1897)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Archives
First Congregational Church of Chicago: directory of members in 1873
First Presbyterian Church 1833-1913 (only 1894-1913 is transcribed here)
Holy Trinity School Class 1883
Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, 1860-1910: Fiftieth anniversary celebration
New England Church, Chicago: directory of the congregation, 1891
Polish parishes Jubilee index : a compilation of names appearing in Jubilee, History and Financial books published by parishes to commemorate special events in their church history
Polish parishes birth index : Holy Trinity Jun 1876-Dec 1915, St. Mary/Angels Dec 1899-Dec 1915, St. Stanislaus Kostka Oct 1869-Aug 1891
Polish parishes marriage index through 1915
St. Charles Borromeo Church : Twelfth and Cypress Streets, Chicago: silver jubilee celebration, 1885-1910
St. Michael's Catholic Church, Baptisms, 1870-1871- a German-speaking church on Cleveland Avenue
St. Paul's Reformed Episcopal Church of Chicago: 1873 Directory
- CITY DIRECTORIES and STREET GUIDES
1843,
1844,
1855/56,
1866,
1870,
1871 Edward's Census,
1873 Strangers' guide to the city of Chicago,
1875,
1880,
1885,
Town of Lake, 1885,
1892,
1900,
1910,
1923,
1928/29
Cook County Online Historical Directories. An index to directories on subscription and non-subscription websites.
- COUNTY GOVERNMENT OFFICES
Chicago City Council Proceedings Files Index, 1833-1871
Chicago City Council Proceedings Explore this collection of early petitions, ordinances, communications and other official records from 1827-1933 to discover how police and fire protection, public works, schools and taxation originated in Chicago. Find out about the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal beginning in 1827, the incorporation of Chicago as a town in 1833, and the Great Fire of 1871 and its aftermath.
Cook County Assessor's Office
Search properties in by address, neighborhood, or PIN number. Besides property value information, site also provides age of building, and photos.
Cook County Clerk's Office
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Archives Department (Phil Costello)
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Naturalizations Declarations of Intent
Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Search properties by grantor/grantee, document number, PIN, trust number, find legal description.
- HISTORY
Chicago in 1919 Explore such topics as the 1919 race riot, new roles for women, the increasing uses of electricity, trends in the arts, labor organizing, business developments, and more. This unique multimedia history program makes you the historian as you sift through documents and photographs, listen to oral histories, and enjoy the top jazz, opera, and pop tunes of the day.
Chicago Park District : history, background, organization (1936)
Cook County IL Biographies
Cook County IL Biographies
Deaths, Disturbances, Disasters and Disorders in Chicago Cholera and influenza epidemics, Iroquois Theater and stock yards fires, Pullman strike, beer riots, etc.
Digital Past - images of Chicago and suburbs
Encyclopedia of Chicago
Great Chicago Fire 1871 : list of missing, lost, found, and dead
Old Chicago: history and architecture in vintage postcards
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
World's Fair 1933-34 : A Century of Progress. Explore the theme of the fair, scientific discoveries and their impact on industry and daily life, by viewing 350 pamphlets and official publications of the fair from the University of Chicago Library's collection.
- MAPS/ATLASES
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. This database gives the historical county boundaries of every county in the United States. You can view and download Adobe PDF files for any state that is of interest to you in your genealogical research. ie. Illinois. Each county in Illinois is listed alphabetically with a map showing the outline of the county at a given period of time. The time period is shown at the top of the map and there is an explanation of what change occurred to the map of the county during the time period in question.
Chicagoancestors.org. "Discover the past by address." An interactive online map of Chicago where you can find and share historical information about Chicago. Are you researching the history of a neighborhood? Looking for the church where your great-grandparents got married? Interested in mapping the places where your ancestors lived?
Chicago Imagebase (Maps)
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
Index of various Chicago maps
Sanborn Maps for Illinois. These historical fire insurance maps of Illinois often include detailed drawings of the businesses, and occasionally details about operational hours or numbers of employees. For additional information about Sanborn maps, click here.
State maps
Topographical maps
- MISCELLANEOUS
Chicago club yearbooks
Chicago Genealogy Research Articles by Michael John Neill
Chicago Institutions (mainly hospitals, medical colleges)
from the "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" ©1901
Chicago Orphan Asylum - Fifty-ninth Annual Report of The Chicago Orphan Asylum, For the Year Ending 1 Dec 1908. Incorporated November 5, 1849. 5120 South Park Avenue, Chicago. Telephone 520 Oakland. Published 1909.
Civil War Pension Index Cards
Cook County, Illinois GenWeb Page
Linkpendium Cook County Genealogy and Family History
- NEIGHBORHOODS
Chicago's neighborhoods- this guide lists books, articles and maps in the Newberry Library and other links to neighborhood collections
Chicago neighborhoods- explore Chicago's 77 distinct community areas and diverse neighborhoods on the City of Chicago's official tourism site. There is a downloadable, printable PDF map of the city. Discover stories and history on the North, West and South sides, and click on the neighborhood names for a more in-depth look at the communities.
Additional neighborhood websites:
Bridgeport
Chicago Loop
Edgewater Historical Society
Englewood: Dorothy's 1945 Daily Diary
Near West Side
North Lawndale
Northwest Chicago Historical Society
Riverview Park
Rogers Park-West Ridge Historical Society
Southeast Side
- NEWSPAPERS and JOURNALS
Chicago Daily News, Photographs 1902-1933
Dziennik Chicagoski 1890-1929 : index of death notices and obituaries in Chicago's Polish language newspaper
Dziennik Chicagoski 1930-1971 : index of death notices and obituaries in Chicago's Polish language newspaper
Hyde Park Herald (1888-2008 when completely digitzed)
List of articles about Cook County in ISGS quarterly
West Side Newspaper Collection
- REAL ESTATE / PROPERTY
Chicago Building Permits, 1898-1912
Chicago Street Address Conversion Guide
- In 1909, Chicago changed its street-numbering system for most of the city. Use this address conversion guide to find a building’s original address.
Chicago Street Name changes
- SCHOOLS
Austin High School records 1879-1971
Chicago Public Schools graduation and attendee’s records : also find alumni, and more!
Chicago school records : information, and what's at the Newberry Library
Chicago schools : fact sheets, commencement programs, etc. (see boxes 35-37)
Englewood High School records 1876-1959
- VITAL RECORDS
Chicago and Cook County Online Death Records and Indexes
Chicago Police Department Homicide Record Index, 1870-1930 (by Illinois State Archives)
Chicago Police Department Homicide Record Index, 1870-1930 (by Northwestern Univ.)
- search 11,000 Chicago homicide cases and view the case details
Cook County Birth Certificates 1878-1922 (Familysearch.org)
Cook County Birth Index, 1916-1935 (Ancestry.com)
Cook County Birth Registers 1871-1915 (Familysearch.org)
Cook County Clerk's Office. Search for B, M, D
Cook County Coroner's Inquest Record Index, 1872-1911
Cook County Deaths 1878-1922 (Familysearch.org)
Cook County Death Index 1908-1988 (Ancestry.com)
Cook County Marriage Index 1930-1960 (Ancestry.com)
Cook County Marriage Licenses 1871-1920 (Familysearch.org)
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths 1916-1947
Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916-1950
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
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ILLINOIS GENEALOGY
- Ancestry.com Illinois research databases and records
- Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office Records : Land Patent Search
- Cyndi's List - Illinois
- Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) - Illinois, Cook, Chicago
- Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls
- Illinois Death Records and Indexes
- Illinois Historic Cemetery Preservation Handbook: A Guide to Basic Preservation
- Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950This card file is an index to petitions for residents of northern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, southern and eastern Wisconsin, and eastern Iowa.
- Illinois Parish Histories collection at the University of Notre Dame
- Illinois Probate Records, 1819-1970
Images of will books, administrations, journals, inventories, guardian's records, and order books from various counties in Illinois.
- Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales
- Illinois Regional Archives Depository System (IRAD) - find out the holdings for each county
- Illinois GenWeb Project
- Illinois Vital Records Information
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ARCHIVES / LIBRARIES / SOCIETIES
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GENERAL GENEALOGY
- Ancestry.com message boards: surnames, localities, topics
- Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites
- Genealogical forms to download
- Artifacts and Heirlooms Record, Biographical Outline, Cemetery Transcription Form, Census Forms, Correspondence Log, Deed Index, Military Records Checklist, Note-Taking Forms, Research Calendar, Time Capsules.....and more!
- RootsWeb
RootsWeb guide to tracing family trees
RootsWeb mailing lists
RootsWeb Surname List
USGenWeb Project
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