Charlottesville and Albemarle History and Research

City and County Information

Use the census tool to find out facts about Charlottesville, Albemarle, or another city. You can learn how many grocery stores were open in Charlottesville in 2018, for example. 

Local Government Resources

City of Charlottesville

• City of Charlottesville Code 
  • You may also call the City Attorney's office at (434) 970-3131 to find out if any particular code section has been amended recently.
• Charlottesville City Schools
  • Visit the Schools page for more information 
• City of Charlottesville Real Estate Assessment Database - GIS Viewer. Search for residential property values, assessment history, and ownership for Charlottesville by address or name. View administrative, environmental, topographic layers and more in the Map view. From the City Assessor's Office.

Albemarle County

• Albemarle County Code

• Albemarle County Schools

  • Visit the Schools page for more information

• Albemarle County GIS Viewer. Search for residential property values, assessment history, and ownership for Albemarle County by address or name. View administrative, environmental, topographic layers and more in the Map view.

Regional Planning Research Guide

Special Collections

• Kevin Lynch Papers: Lynch served on Charlottesville City Council from 1988 to 2007. The collection consists of reports, research, and notes from his service and materials related to city planning. 
• Charlottesville Court and City records--1888-1980
• Records of the Charlottesville City School Board--1869-2006
• Charlottesville City Schools Collection--1890-1945
• Papers of Judge John Paul--covers civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and land use cases, the most significant of which concern school desegregation in Charlottesville. Covers 1930-1964

The University of Virginia Library is a Congressionally designated repository for U.S. Government documents; public access to these documents is guaranteed by law. Use Virgo to search for government documents, which may be checked out. 

Find more information on research using government documents. Some of our Government Documents are available in Shannon Library for browsing in the Government Documents Room, Shannon Library Room 130. This on-Grounds collection includes Federal, State Department, and Virginia 'GovDocs'. The remaining GovDocs are available by request from off-site storage. 

The University of Virginia Library and Special Collections do not hold vital records. 

'Vital records' includes birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates, legal documents, land or home ownership documents, etc. Most historic vital records are available online via Ancestry or Family Search. For recent vital records (past 50 years) contact the Virginia Department of Health: Office of Vital Records. 

Generally, these documents are available at the courthouse or records office for the county or city where the event took place. Some vital records are available through the Library of Virginia up through the 1930s. 

Use this Virginia Vital Records guide from the Library of Congress to determine the location of the vital record you are seeking. The guide covers adoption, birth, death, marriage, and divorce records.

When searching for vital records, please contact the Virginia Department of Health: Office of Vital Records, online records via Ancestry or Family Search, your local state government, or the Library of Virginia. 

Census Research Resources: 

Contemporary Census Research and Data

Historic Census Research - Name Rolls and Non-Name Rolls

Library of Congress Census Research Guide