Guide to Local History & Genealogy Department Collections

Most materials must be used in the Library Center. Photocopiers and microform printers are available.

CENSUS

Microfilm of Missouri population schedules 1830-1930

Census records available online with Ancestry Library Edition, Fold3* and HeritageQuest*. HeritageQuest may also be used from home with a valid Springfield-Greene County Library card.

MISSOURI RESEARCH

Historical and current materials on religion, church histories, customs, laws, government, politics, folklore, conservation, geology, geography, fiction, regional authors, sports and biography.

CITY DIRECTORIES and TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES

Springfield, Mo., City Directories

• 1878 and 1881 to 1900 reproductions

• 1901-1969 in microfilm

• 1970 to present in closed storage

Springfield Telephone Books

• 1916-1960 in microfilm

• 1961 to present in closed storage

Cross-Reference Directories

• 1950-1970 in microfilm

• 1971- 2006 in our closed storage

CIVIL WAR

Search the catalog for:

• War of the Rebellion, Official Record of the Union and Confederate Armies

• The 24th Missouri Volunteer Infantry "Lyon Legion"

• Compendium of the Confederate Armies (various states)

• Compendium of the War of the Rebellion

• Wilson's Creek: the Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It

The collection includes many histories of local and nearby battles.

Online

• Community and Conflict: The Impact of the Civil War in the Ozarks -- documents with transcriptions of Ozarks area Civil War and Reconstruction Era artifacts

GENEALOGY

• Indexes to birth, death (online death certificates 1910-1958), funeral homes, marriage, land and probate records

• Transcriptions of cemeteries and tombstones for Missouri residents with an emphasis on Greene County and southwest Missouri.

• How-to and beginning genealogy books.

• The Library Center houses part of the Lena Wills collection. Lena Wills was a local genealogist who wrote a genealogy column for the News-Leader from 1969 until her death in 1986. Her collection includes papers, books and correspondence relating to local genealogy.

INFORMATION FILES

Clipping and pamphlet files arranged by subject; includes people, places, events, nature and other topics of local interest.  Search subject titles online.  Note: Few of these files have family genealogies.

NEWSPAPERS

Springfield newspapers on microfilm;   Marsha Hoffman Rising has abstracts of the Springfield Express 1881-1889 newspaper online; microfilmed copies of Ash Grove newspapers, 1884-1970 and 2001-2006; Springfield Business Journal, 1981-present; New York Times, 1920-1994 on microfilm.

Dr. William K. Hall’s Index to Items of Genealogical Interest, a printed source, covers births, deaths, marriages, divorces, engagements, anniversaries, etc. that appeared in Springfield newspapers.  This index covers 1900 to present. The Library Station has copies of a portion of Dr. Hall's index in print.

Before 1900, surviving newspapers were infrequent. 

Ozarks News and Historical Index (ONHI) is an online selected subject index to newspapers and periodicals.  

NATIVE AMERICANS

Search the catalog for:

• Index to Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes (Dawes Rolls)

• Guion Miller Roll Plus of Eastern Cherokee

• Records Relating to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee on microfilm

• other materials on the Cherokee Nation and histories of Missouri tribes

See the Library's guide to beginning your Native American research

MISSOURI HISTORY

Local and county histories with emphasis on Greene County and southwest Missouri. Often these histories will contain biographies of some residents. Several Greene County histories are online.

MISSOURI MAPS

Street, highway, physical, political and historical maps. Atlases and gazetteers of historical interest.  Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Springfield, the 1933-1950 and 1957 print versions are available at the Library. Plat books for Greene County and some area counties. The 1930 plat books of Missouri are available online. USGS topographical quadrangle maps for most of Southwest Missouri.  

OZARKS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

A portion of their book collection is housed at the Library Center, and the rest are located at their library, 534 W Catalpa, Springfield, Mo. The collection covers most states with a focus on Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky and Tennessee – states from which most early Missourians migrated during the westward expansion. Their book collection is searchable in our catalog. Under "location" choose Ozarks Genealogical Society.

PERIODICALS

53 active titles covering different aspects of Missouri and Ozarks history and culture such as Missouri Historical Review, Ozarks Mountaineer, Missouri Life and 417. An archive of magazines no longer published such as Springfield Magazine and 40 other titles. Older issues of White River Valley Historical Quarterly, Bittersweet and Ozarks Watch are available online or in print. Several genealogical magazines including Family Tree Magazine and Genealogical Computing. Some magazine articles have been indexed in our Ozarks News and Historical Index.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF INTEREST

Local high school and college yearbooks (predominantly Springfield schools, print version only), R. Ritchie Robertson materials, Library archive which includes postcards and photographs, mainly of local landmarks, Land Clearance for Redevelopment records circa 1960's - 1970's which includes photographs of downtown area businesses and some houses.

LEGAL MATERIALS

Print versions of the Missouri Revised Statutes and Code of State Regulations, General Assembly Legislation, Vernon’s Annotated Missouri Statutes, Springfield City Code and Ordinances and Daily Events a daily publication of court activity .

* Library card required for use outside the Library