University Genealogy Collections around the US

 

https://www.library.ca.gov/sutro/

Many genealogists can become fixated on the big four online genealogy websites and ignore other important collections of valuable genealogical records in local university libraries.

There isn't a single, definitive number of university genealogy collections (like "425 libraries") because no central agency tracks every university with a "genealogy collection." However, based on repository lists and digital archive directories, the landscape looks like this:

Major Hubs: There are roughly 20–30 major US university libraries that are considered national-level genealogy destinations (e.g., BYU, Yale, University of North Carolina).

Regional Repositories: There are hundreds of universities (likely 300+) that don't call themselves "genealogy libraries" but host the primary Digital Special Collections (yearbooks, local newspapers, oral histories) for their specific region. See “Digital Archives | Ohio University.” Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.ohio.edu/library/collections/digital-archives. for example.

You likely won't find a button labeled "Genealogy" on their homepages. Instead, you have to look for "Special Collections," "Archives," or "Digital Commons." See “Special Collections | ALA.” Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/special.

The "Big Three" Types of University Genealogy Collections

If you are hunting for records, it helps to know which universities hold what specific types of data:

A. The Genealogy Giants (Religious & Specialized) 

A few universities have genealogy as a core part of their mission, often due to religious affiliation or historical endowments. Brigham Young University (BYU): The Family History Archive is one of the largest online genealogy book collections in the world. It is massive and free. The Family History Archive is presently located on the FamilySearch.org website. 

The Allen County Public Library (affiliated with universities): While a public library, its collection is so academic and vast (the second largest after Salt Lake City) that it functions like a university archive for researchers.

B. The Regional History Keepers

Most state universities serve as the official historian for their state. If your ancestors lived in a specific county, the nearest state university likely holds the papers for that county. The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill): Their "Documenting the American South" collection is the premier spot for Southern U.S. ancestry, slavery records, and diaries. The University of Washington holds the Digital Collections for Pacific Northwest history, including unique labor and ethnic history records. The University of Florida's The Digital Collections (UFDC) hosts vast Caribbean and Florida pioneer records.

C. The "Hidden" Collections (Alumni & Student Data)

Almost every US university (thousands of them) has a digital archive containing: The Yearbooks: Often fully searchable by name, The Alumni Directories: Lists of graduates, often with biographical details, The Student Newspapers: A goldmine for finding ancestors who attended college (mentions of marriages, awards, campus visits).

Key Collections to Bookmark

If you want to browse, these university libraries have the most accessible online portals:

University Library	Best For...
Brigham Young University (BYU)	Family history books, western US migration, LDS history.
Harvard University	Colonial history, legal documents, early American diaries.
University of Texas (Austin)	The "Perry-Castañeda Library" Map Collection (the best historical maps online).
Cornell University	"Making of America" collection (19th-century journals and censuses).
University of Illinois	Digitized historical newspapers and rural midwest history.

Genealogists who have the time and resources will never run out of places to find more records about their ancestors. 

The First European Settlers in Each US State

 

Image generated by Google Nano Banana Pro. Click to enlarge the image. 

One of the most egregious and consistent errors in the FamilySearch Family Tree is dating events in people's lives before the event was historically possible. Here is one example.

In case you need to check out these places and the the marriage date, you might want to ask about West Virginia statehood on June 20, 1863. Shepherdstown (originally Mecklenburg) was settled between 1717-1727 but did not become a town until 1762, just a bit less that a hundred years after the date above. In addition, Jefferson County did not exist until 1801 at which time it was located in Virginia. See Snyder, Shepherd. “A Discussion On The Oldest Town In W.Va. – And How Much It Actually Matters.” West Virginia Public Broadcasting, June 9, 2023. https://wvpublic.org/a-discussion-on-who-the-oldest-town-in-w-va-is-and-how-much-it-actually-matters/.

For reference, here is a list of each state and the date of the first European settlement.  

State	Settlement	Year	Origin	Notes
Alabama	Old Mobile (Fort Louis)	1702	French	Established by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville; later moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711 due to flooding.
Alaska	Three Saints Bay (Kodiak)	1784	Russian	Founded by Grigory Shelekhov; it was the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska.
Arizona	Tubac	1752	Spanish	Established as a Spanish Presidio. Note: The Spanish had a temporary presence at San Hieronimo as early as 1541.
Arkansas	Arkansas Post	1686	French	Founded by Henri de Tonti as a trading post near the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers.
California	Mission San Diego de Alcalá	1769	Spanish	The first of the 21 California missions, marking the beginning of colonization in Alta California.
Colorado	San Luis	1851	Spanish/Mexican	Established by settlers from New Mexico on a Mexican land grant.
Connecticut	Windsor	1633	English	English settlers from Plymouth established a trading post here, shortly before the Dutch established the House of Hope nearby.
Delaware	Fort Christina (Wilmington)	1638	Swedish	The first permanent settlement. Note: The Dutch established a whaling colony at Zwaanendael (Lewes) in 1631, but it was destroyed.
Florida	St. Augustine	1565	Spanish	The oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States.
Georgia	Savannah	1733	English	Founded by James Oglethorpe. Note: Spanish missions (Santa Catalina de Guale) existed on the coast in the late 1500s but were abandoned.
Hawaii	Honolulu / Kailua-Kona	c. 1790s/1820	British/US	While Captain Cook arrived in 1778, permanent Western settlement began with runaway sailors (1790s) and solidified with the arrival of missionaries in 1820.
Idaho	Franklin	1860	Mormon	Founded by Mormon pioneers. Note: Kullyspell House (1809) was a temporary trading post.
Illinois	Cahokia	1699	French	Established by missionaries from Quebec; it is the oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois.
Indiana	Vincennes	1732	French	Established by François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, to protect the fur trade.
Iowa	Dubuque	1788	French-Canadian	Julien Dubuque settled here to mine lead. The area was permanently opened to general settlement in 1833.
Kansas	Fort Leavenworth	1827	American	The oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi, serving as the first permanent settlement.
Kentucky	Harrodsburg	1774	English	Founded by James Harrod; considered the first permanent settlement west of the Appalachians.
Louisiana	Natchitoches	1714	French	Established by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis; predates New Orleans (1718).
Maine	Kittery	1623	English	Note: The Popham Colony (1607) and St. Croix Island (1604) were earlier but failed.
Maryland	Kent Island	1631	English	Established by William Claiborne as a trading post, predating St. Mary's City (1634).
Massachusetts	Plymouth	1620	English	The Pilgrims' settlement. Note: Popham (Maine) was part of the "Virginia" charter but failed.
Michigan	Sault Ste. Marie	1668	French	Founded by Father Jacques Marquette as a Jesuit mission.
Minnesota	Fort Snelling / Mendota	1819	American	The fort allowed for the settlement of Mendota (c. 1820s) and later St. Paul.
Mississippi	Fort Maurepas (Ocean Springs)	1699	French	The first French colony in the region; later moved to Mobile. Natchez (1716) is the oldest continuous settlement on the Mississippi River.
Missouri	Ste. Genevieve	c. 1735	French	Established by French-Canadians moving from Illinois agricultural lands.
Montana	St. Mary's Mission	1841	Jesuit	Established by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet in the Bitterroot Valley.
Nebraska	Bellevue	1822	American	Established as a fur trading post by the Missouri Fur Company.
Nevada	Genoa	1851	Mormon	Originally known as Mormon Station, a trading post for travelers to California.
New Hampshire	Dover (Pannaway)	1623	English	Settlement at Pannaway (Rye) and Dover Point occurred almost simultaneously.
New Jersey	Bergen (Jersey City)	1660	Dutch	The first permanent town. Earlier Dutch and Swedish trading posts existed but were not permanent towns.
New Mexico	San Juan de los Caballeros	1598	Spanish	Founded by Don Juan de Oñate. Santa Fe was established shortly after in 1610.
New York	Fort Orange (Albany)	1624	Dutch	Established by the Dutch West India Company, predating New Amsterdam (NYC).
North Carolina	Bath	1705	English	Note: The Roanoke Colony (1585) was the first attempt but disappeared ("The Lost Colony").
North Dakota	Pembina	1797	French-Canadian	Established as a fur trading post by the North West Company.
Ohio	Marietta	1788	American	The first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory.
Oklahoma	Salina	1796	French	Established by Jean Pierre Chouteau as a trading post.
Oregon	Astoria	1811	American	Founded by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company.
Pennsylvania	Tinicum Island	1643	Swedish	Established by Governor Johan Printz as the capital of New Sweden.
Rhode Island	Providence	1636	English	Founded by Roger Williams after being exiled from Massachusetts Bay.
South Carolina	Charles Towne (Charleston)	1670	English	Note: The Spanish capital of Santa Elena (1566-1587) on Parris Island predates this but was abandoned.
South Dakota	Fort Pierre	1817	American	Continuous settlement began with the Joseph La Framboise trading post.
Tennessee	Watauga Association	1772	English	Early semi-autonomous government. Note: Fort Loudoun (1756) was a British outpost but was destroyed.
Texas	Ysleta (El Paso)	1682	Spanish	Founded by refugees from the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico.
Utah	Salt Lake City	1847	Mormon	Founded by Brigham Young and Mormon pioneers.
Vermont	Fort Dummer	1724	English	Note: The French built Fort Ste. Anne (1666) on Isle La Motte, but it was not permanent.
Virginia	Jamestown	1607	English	The first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
Washington	Spokane House	1810	British	Established by the North West Company for fur trading.
West Virginia	Shepherdstown / Romney	1762	English	Both towns were chartered on the same day (Dec 23, 1762) by the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Wisconsin	Green Bay	1765	French	Jean Nicolet landed in 1634, but permanent settlement began with the Langlade family around 1765.
Wyoming	Fort Laramie	1834	American	Originally established as Fort William (fur trade), later a military post.

I might add that there is some discussion and some disputes with the dates and places and, of course, the list ignores the many Native American settlements dating back about 16,00 years. 

Why the chart and why the discussion? One of the basic steps in doing accurate genealogical research is to focus on the places were events occurred in an ancestor's life. In every case, it is a good idea to check the date of the town or village settlement date and also the county or other govenmental jurisdiction. The valid and accurate dates will determine the initial location of the town's existence and hence the existence of any records. Granted, this is regular history but essential to accuracy for genealogical research. Here are some starting points for the general history of European settlement in America. 

“Motivations for Colonization.” Accessed December 2, 2025. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/motivations-colonization.

“Settlement, American Beginnings: 1492-1690, Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature, Toolbox Library, National Humanities Center.” Accessed December 2, 2025. https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/settlement.htm.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. “Colonial Settlement, 1600s - 1763 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress.” Web page. Accessed December 2, 2025. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/colonial-settlement-1600-1763/.