Growing Your Family Tree
Fremont County Resources

This month I am going to provide a short description of the resources available to the Fremont County family historian. We have been working together for six months and have learned a lot of the different types of records and how to use them for our research. It is time to branch out and explore other places to see what they have to offer.

The local researcher is privileged to live in a state that has a federal record repository. The National Archives and Records Administration has an office in the Denver Federal Center. It has microfilm copies of all the censuses for all the states from 1790-1920, Revolutionary War records, pension and bounty land warrant records, and Colorado naturalizations. This office is currently undergoing expansion and updating equipment.

There are three major repositories of genealogical materials in the city of Denver. They are all in a three-block area downtown and fairly easy to access.

The Denver Public Library holds a large collection of general Western History materials. They have census records, vital record transcriptions for all states, and Denver City records.

The Colorado Historical Society houses a lovely museum and gift shop as well as an extensive collection of Colorado materials. It has city directories for most Colorado counties and an excellent collection of photographs. You are required to fill out an application and they restrict what you may bring inside the research room.

The Colorado Archives houses a large collection of Colorado vital records, including microfilm and actual copies of early marriage records.

Colorado Springs and Pueblo have very nice genealogical libraries. Both cities have good coverage of newspapers for their area and have transcriptions covering the entire country. They also have good collections of microfilm census records. Both these libraries are currently doing remodeling and have limited access right now.

Fremont County has a small Local History Library and is housed in the public library basement. Although it was restricted to historical records for a long time, it is now building its collection of genealogical material. For people with local ties it is invaluable. Microfilm census records for the whole country can be ordered but none are kept on premises. There is a complete microfilm set of Canon City papers as well as some for the Florence area and a complete set of Fremont and Custer County census records. They maintain family files for any of the families that they have researched and an extensive subject file.

In addition to these sources, there is at least one LDS Family History Library in each city, usually more in the bigger cities. They have complete, up-to-date IGI and Ancestral Files and recent Social Security Death Indexes as well as various collections of microfilm and microfiche records. Additional films can be ordered for a nominal fee.

Next month, I will be discussing the various serial publications available to the family historian. This will include society and national magazines and some of what they have to offer the researcher.

Copyright Mary Ann Thomas 2001
Originally published
Canon City Daily Record
9 Aug 2001

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