Genealogy Materials at Three Rivers Regional Library System

Three Rivers Libraries branches collect special collections materials of local historical and genealogical interest that can help you research your town’s history, learn more about your ancestors, or complete Georgia history projects for school. Materials collected vary from one location to another, with a focus on history of that library's location (e.g. Darien and McIntosh county history at the Ida Hilton Public Library). Most materials are available to researchers, although some cannot be handled due to their age and fragile condition.

Materials that may be available at your local Three Rivers library include hard copies of censuses, individually and professionally published family histories, military service information, school yearbooks, scrapbooks and records of garden clubs and other civic organizations, and newspapers both in hard copies and on microfilm. Access to genealogy and history databases like Ancestry.com, the Digital Library of Georgia, the National Archives, the New Georgia Encyclopedia, and HeritageQuest Online is also available through Three Rivers' participation in GALILEO (Georgia Library Learning Online).

Genealogy Guidance and Assistance

While Three Rivers Libraries staff can provide access and basic assistance in using the special collections, we can only provide limited research services. The types of requests we can help with include questions about the materials in our collections, like:

• Do you have a Wayne County High School yearbook for 1973?
• What kind of materials do you have to help me research my home's history?
• My grandmother was in the Long County Garden Club in the 1950s. Can you help me learn more about that?
• I think I have ancestors who served in the Civil War. How could I research that?

The types of requests we may be able to provide limited help with include questions about specific information contained in the materials in our collections, like:

• How many children did my great-great-grandfather have?
• Am I descended from [historical figure]?
• Can you email me a scan of my mom's high school yearbook photo?
• Who was on the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce board in the 1950s?

Before visiting or contacting the library to perform historical and genealogical research, you should prepare some basic information:

• Names, birth and death dates, relationships (parents, spouses, children) and residence locations of the people you wish to research or of people associated with a building, place, business, or organization.
• Type of information you wish to find (family makeup, occupation, building history, etc).
• Where you have already looked for this information