Schuylkill County Government Departments and Agencies


Archives

Schuylkill County Courthouse
401 N. 2nd St.
Pottsville, PA 17901-2528
(570) 628-1145
archives@co.schuylkill.pa.us
Colleen Ryan, Director
HISTORY
STAFF
TYPE OF RECORDS
FREE USAGE/SERVICE FEES/HOURS
GENEALOGY RESEARCH RESOURCES AVAILABLE
ESTATE FILES 1811 - 1959
NATURALIZATION INDEXES AND RECORDS c. 1828 - 1988
DEED BOOKS
WILL BOOKS 1811 - 1986
MORTGAGE BOOKS
MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS
MARRIAGE DOCKETS 1885 - MAY 1969
BIRTH & DEATH RECORDS
OTHER HELPFUL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

 

HISTORY

The Schuylkill County Archives opened its doors in the Spring of 1988. It represented, for the first time, a central depository for all of the County's government records. The archives were designed to hold approximately 10,000 cubic feet of records. It was built as an addition to the courthouse and consists of two floors, which can be entered from the public entrance to the courthouse.

The oldest records predate the existence of Schuylkill County, which was founded in 1811. These oldest records have been microfilmed and the originals have been stored away as the oldest records in the archives facility. Currently, the archives is home to records from the Clerk of Courts, Domestic Relations, Prothonotary, Records of Deeds, Register of Wills, Sheriff, Tax Assessment, Tax Claim, Treasurer, Commissioners, Rest Haven and Veteran Affairs. Most, but not all of these records are open to the public, but some remain confidential.

STAFF

The archives have a current staff of four full-time people. The present director is Colleen Ryan, and a staff of four people assist her. Daily visitor logs show that each month approximately 400 people visit the facility. Also, the logs reveal visitors from 45 of the 50 United States and several foreign countries.

TYPE OF RECORDS

Upon arriving at the archives you will find a friendly staff of people waiting to help you search for the records that you need. One of the most popular records are the ones dealing with genealogy. Naturalization and immigration records, birth, death and records of wills and estates are very helpful to amateur and professional genealogists in finding their family backgrounds. The archives also has all of the County land records, such as deed and mortgage books that are in great demand by lawyers and title searchers. In an effort to save space, there is an ongoing record destruction program. This allows the facility to microfilm and then destroy certain records that have no historical value. If the records you need are on microfilm a staff member will assist you in viewing the records and printing a copy on the reader-printer machine.

FEES

Although the services of the archives are free to all users, there is a $.25 (cent) copy fee for each page duplicated. Mail requests, within reason, are processed at a fee of $.25 (cents) per copy. The facility is open from 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m. each day excluding holidays. The telephone number is (570) 628-1145.



A LISTING OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR USE IN GENEALOGY RESEARCHES
ESTATE FILES 1811 - 1959
Available in Archives (Records Management)
(Must have date of death or date of first entry in the General Dockets)

 

ASSESSMENT
YEARS
AVAILABLE ON
AVAILABLE IN
1895 - 1991 Books Archives
1811 - 1894 & 1992 - 2002 Microfilm Archives

 

NATURALIZATION INDEXES AND RECORDS c. 1828 - 1988
Available in Archives

 

DEED BOOKS
BOOKS
AVAILABLE IN
1 - 299 Recorder of Deeds Office on Computer
300 - 1299 Vault in basement of Courthouse
1300 - Present Recorder of Deeds Office

 

WILL BOOKS 1811 - 1986
Available in Archives
Indexes for Years
Available In
1811 - 1920 Archives
ALL Register of Wills Office

 

MORTGAGE BOOKS
BOOKS
AVAILABLE IN
A - 16Z Archives
17A - 29Z Vault in basement of Courthouse
30A - Present Recorder of Deeds Office

 

MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS
BOOKS
AVAILABLE IN
1 - 50 Removed for Scanning
51 - 219 Vault in basement of Courthouse
220 - Present Recorder of Deeds Office

 

MARRIAGE DOCKETS 1885 - MAY 1969
Indexes Found in Register of Wills Office In Front of Each Volume
on Microfilm. If date is known Dockets are available in Archives.
Dockets Available in Archives or Search here on the Web

 

BIRTH & DEATH RECORDS
YEARS
INDEXES AVAILABLE IN
1893 - 1905 Register of Wills Office
After 1905 Forms are available in Register of Wills Office.
(Form must be sent to Bureau of Vital Statistics
New Castle, PA)
Delayed Birth Records covering the period 1860 - 1905
and Recorded between 1945 - 1956
Available in Archives

 

OTHER HELPFUL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS
Organization
Address
Phone
Historical Society of Schuylkill County 305 North Centre St
Pottsville, PA 17901
(570) 622-7540
(570) 628-2012Fax
Pottsville Free Library 215 West Market Street
Pottsville, PA 17901
(570) 622-8880
Pennsylvania State Archives PO Box 1026
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026
(717) 787-2701
93250

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Revised: July 10, 2019