Magazine of Albemarle County History
The magazine has published local history since 1940. Issues are available in Clemons Library in the reference section: F232.A3 M3.
Issues from 2000- Present are searchable and available online HERE.
Research Librarian for Architecture
Building Research
- Virtual Access to Deed BooksLogin info is on Slack. The separately indexed Land Record Documents only go back to 1968.
Prior to that year one needs to look at the “Virtual Books” which take you all the way back to 1888 when the City was incorporated.
The user will need to change the “Office Type” from “Real Estate” to “Virtual Books” to see those documents.
- Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new windowAncestry Library Edition is an academic version of ancestry.com. There are images of original documents and includes narratives, oral histories, indexes and abstracts to other resources. Over 30,000 Ancestry.com record collections and 11 billion records available to search. Record collections span the 1500s–2000s.
- Holsinger Collection of ImagesPhotographs from a Charlottesville photography studio.
- Sanborn Maps- GeocodedGeocoded Sanborn maps from UVA's collections. 1886, 1891, 1896, 1907, 1920. Additional Sanborn maps available in other resources (see below).
- Sanborn Maps at the Library of CongressIncludes the following years for Charlottesville: 1886, 1891, 1896, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1920. (Including indexes and keys)
Online Resources
- Ancestry Library EditionAncestry Library Edition is an academic version of ancestry.com. There are images of original documents, such as the census name rolls. It also includes narratives, oral histories, indexes and abstracts to other resources. Over 30,000 Ancestry.com record collections and 11 billion records available to search. Record collections span the 1500s–2000s. (The link above is for current UVA students, faculty, and staff only, however many public libraries have subscriptions to this resource as well)
- FamilySearch.orgFree resource that allows searching of many family and genealogical records, including Census records.
- African American Grave Search (Charlottesville and Albemarle)Last updated in 2011?
- J.F. Bell Funeral Home RecordsSearch by Name, or view a list of the Family Names.
- Virginia Chancery Case IndexRecords of legal matters settled in courts including property and land disputes. Search by name.
- Holsinger Collection of ImagesPhotographs from a Charlottesville photography studio.
- JUEL - Jefferson's University; the early life"JUEL is a study of what life was like in the first 50 years of the University of Virginia, from its founding through end of the Civil War. Jefferson’s vision of a secular university, dedicated to enriching public life and sustaining the new republic, was both embodied in and transformed by the people who lived, worked, and studied at the University. This project will bring together a trove of personal and administrative documents, as well as images of the university, to examine the day-to-day life of students, faculty, workers, and townspeople and their architectural and social environment."
Includes transcriptions of resources like the Journal of the Chairman of the Faculty, Faculty Minutes, the University Catalog, and more. - School Census ImagesPage images from the 1910 and 1915 School Census, and the 1916 Census of annexed school areas.
- Sanborn Maps- GeocodedGeocoded Sanborn maps from UVA's collections. 1886, 1891, 1896, 1907, 1920. Additional Sanborn maps available in other resources (see below).
- Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 This link opens in a new windowIncludes *black and white* copies of the Sanborn maps for Charlottesville from 1886, 1891, 1896, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1920, 1929, and 1929-1950 (single volume with multi-year updates).
- Sanborn Maps at the Library of CongressIncludes the following years for Charlottesville: 1886, 1891, 1896, 1902, 1907, 1913, 1920. (Including indexes and keys)
Helpful Guides
- First name variants (from Virginia Memory)Variations of first name spellings found in the Virginia Memory "Virginia Untold" collection.
- Record Types for Enslaved African AmericansRecord types in the Virginia Untold collection at the Library of Virginia. A good starting point for knowing where names/people might appear in official records.
- Tips to find "missing" namesHints on phonetic variations, common abbreviations, and frequent transcription errors that may help you locate a "hidden" record.