Local and Family History


Contact Us:

McCracken County Public Library
Local and Family History
555 Washington St.
Paducah, KY 42001

270.442.2510 ext. 139 
866.829.7532 ext. 139 (Toll Free)
[email protected]


Databases

Ancestry Library Edition 
Only available in-library

For more information please call 270-442-2510 Ext 124 or email [email protected]


Newspapers.com Paducah Sun Archive 
Only available in-library.

MyHeritage Library Edition 
One of the largest, most internationally diverse genealogy databases of its kind. Access billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos and other resources in thousands of databases that span the past five centuries. 

Heritage Quest
Comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids.  

Fold3
Provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.  

Sanborn Insurance Maps
Provides digital access the Library of Congress, Sandborn Fire Insurance Maps of Paducah, McCracken County, KY. Years available include 1885, 1889, 1893, 1897, 1901, 1906, and 1906 – 1950.

Roth Funeral Records
Searchable database of over 8,000 funeral records from Roth Funeral Home in Paducah, KY.

Chronicling America
Digitized American newspapers from 1836-1922, including the Paducah Sun.

FamilySearch.org
Free access to family tree and research organization tools, genealogical searching, photos, and more, from home. The McCracken County Public Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, sharing FamilySearch’s digital record collections with patrons at 555 Washington St.

Find-A-Grave
Free search tool for finding burial locations. Includes millions of cemetery records.

Kentucky Digital Library

Murray State Digital Commons

US GenWeb

USGS Historical Map Viewer
Viewer for historical USGS maps. Maps from across the US can be overlaid to show changes over time.

Paducah City Clerk Records

Database for digitized records from the City of Paducah, including documents pertaining to Boards & Commissions, Budgets, Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, Police Department Annual Reports, as well as, City Commission Agenda Packets, Highlights, Minutes, Municipal Orders, Ordinances, Resolutions, and more.


Digital Collections

Explore digitized images, documents, oral histories, videos, and more.  Featured collections include The Mary Wheeler Collection, Paducah postcards, and newspapers and documents from area schools.

Access the Digital Collections.

Archives

Search the library’s closed archives for descriptions of items and collections, as well as information about accessing these materials.

Search the archives.

Local and Family History Blog

Read curious stories from the interesting history of Paducah and the Jackson Purchase.

Read it here.


Genealogy Collection

Includes family histories, periodicals, birth and death indexes, and more.

See more about the Genealogy Collection

Local History Collection

Includes the Irvin S Cobb and Mary Wheeler Collections, as well as subject files, city directories, newspapers, biographies, and more.

See more about the Local History Collection

African-American History

Explore biographies famous African-American people and landmarks in Paducah’s history, as well as the history of the 8th of August Emancipation Celebration.

Learn more here.


The Local and Family History room is located on the first floor of our library.

The collection focuses on Kentucky, the Jackson Purchase region, surrounding counties, and states which relate to Kentucky migration, including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Southern Illinois. More than 4,000 books are included in our collection; titles are added continually. You may search for books through our online card catalog.

Other research materials include online database subscriptions, microfilm, microfiche, CDs, periodicals, journals, subject and family files, photographs, and archives. The McCracken County Genealogical-Historical Society collection is housed in our room at the library.