District of Columbia Genealogy Search

Washington DC family history draws on records kept by the city, the federal government and, before 1871, the separate governments of Washington City, Georgetown and Washington County. The District began recording deaths in 1855 and births in 1874, with marriages from 1811, and the DC Archives and the DC Vital Records Division hold them. The National Archives in Washington holds the federal censuses from 1800, when the District was first counted, the Freedmen's Bureau records, the Civil War records of the District's regiments and the records of the federal agencies that employed many Washingtonians.

Because the District has never had a county, the Recorder of Deeds and the DC Superior Court hold the land and probate records that counties hold elsewhere.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

District of Columbia statewide genealogy links

• Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia ArchivesDistrict of Columbia Government Archives
• District of Columbia Department of Health Vital RecordsLibrary Genealogical Resources
• Moorland Spingarn Research Center at Howard University in Washington DCResearch Center to Preserve Black History
• National Archives Washington DCDistrict of Columbia Genealogy Research at the National Archives

The District of Columbia recorded deaths from 1855, births from 1874 and marriages from 1811, and the DC Department of Health's Vital Records Division holds births and deaths, while the DC Superior Court's Marriage Bureau holds marriage records, with the DC Archives holding the older registers. Death and birth records open to genealogy after set periods under District rules, and FamilySearch has indexed DC deaths from 1855 to 1961 and marriages from 1811 to 1950 free. Divorce records sit with the DC Superior Court.

• DC Vital Records DivisionBirth and death certificates for the District
• DC ArchivesHistorical birth, death, marriage and government records of the District
• Washington DC Vital Records guideHow to order certificates and what is public

The National Archives in Washington holds the federal censuses of the District from 1800, the Freedmen's Bureau records for the District, the Civil War records of the District of Columbia volunteers, the records of the Freedman's Savings Bank, whose Washington branch records name thousands of Black families, the 1862 emancipation petitions filed by District slaveholders, and the personnel records of federal employees. The DC Public Library's Washingtoniana division at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library holds city directories from 1822, newspapers including the Evening Star, and the Washington Star photograph collection. The Historical Society of Washington holds manuscripts and photographs.

• DC Public Library People's ArchiveCity directories, newspapers and Washington history collections
• Chronicling America, District of Columbia titlesFree digitized Washington newspapers including the Evening Star

The DC Recorder of Deeds holds land records for the District from 1792, with an online index, and the DC Superior Court's Probate Division holds wills and estates from 1801, with the older files at the DC Archives and the National Archives, which holds the records of the old District courts. Georgetown's records before its 1871 merger and Alexandria's records for the years it belonged to the District, 1791 to 1846, sit partly in the District's series and partly in Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia.

• DC Recorder of DeedsLand records for the District from 1792
• Washington DC Court RecordsSuperior Court probate and case records

• National Archives, genealogyCensus, military, immigration and land records
• Library of Congress, genealogy guidesResearch guides for family history