Home > Archives & Reference > Genealogy Resources > County Records on Microfilm (this page)

County Records on Microfilm

 
Introduction

There is great genealogical and historical value in records of local governments. Information found in Texas county records can include deed and property transactions, probate and wills, naturalizations, vital statistics, voter registrations, school records, tax payments, and more.

Texas county records filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) have been made available for researchers to borrow through interlibrary loan through twenty-three depositories in Texas, including the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) Genealogy Collection in Austin. The microfilm may also be available to use in person at the repository for a given region. FamilySearch affiliate libraries, including TSLAC’s Austin and Liberty locations, provide on-site access to digitized images of many of these reels.

Photograph of a drawer with county records on microfilm

Not all Texas counties, and not all of the records held in each county were filmed. See our online guide to county records for details about the types of records that were filmed and what kind of information can be found in them.

County Records at TSLAC

TSLAC is the microfilm depository for the following Texas counties. Libraries may borrow the film through interlibrary loan (ILL). Select a county below to see which records have been filmed:

Atascosa Bandera
Bastrop Bexar
Blanco Caldwell
Comal Frio
Galveston Gillespie
Grayson Guadalupe
Harris Hays
Karnes Kendall
Kerr Kinney
Llano McMullen
Medina Uvalde
Wilson  
County Records at Other Depositories

Film for the following counties are housed at depositories throughout Texas and are also available for libraries to borrow through interlibrary loan (ILL). Select a county below to see which records have been filmed:

Anderson Andrews
Angelina Aransas
Archer Austin
Bee Bell
Bosque Bowie
Brazoria Brazos
Brewster Brooks
Brown Burleson
Burnet Calhoun
Callahan Cameron
Camp Cass
Chambers Cherokee
Clay Coke
Collin Colorado
Cooke Coryell
Crane Crosby
Culberson Dallas
Dawson Delta
Denton DeWitt
Dimmit Duval
Ector Ellis
Erath Falls
Fannin Fayette
Fisher Floyd
Fort Bend Franklin
Freestone Gaines
Garza Goliad
Gonzales Greer
Gregg Grimes
Hamilton Hardin
Harrison Haskell
Henderson Hidalgo
Hill Hood
Hopkins Houston
Hudspeth Hunt
Jackson Jasper
Jeff Davis Jefferson
Jim Hogg Johnson
Kaufman Kenedy
Knox Lamar
Lampasas La Salle
Lavaca Lee
Leon Liberty
Limestone Live Oak
Lubbock Lynn
Madison Marion
Martin Matagorda
Maverick McLennan
Midland Milam
Montague Montgomery
Morris Nacogdoches
Navarro Newton
Nueces Orange
Panola Parker
Pecos Polk
Reagan Red River
Refugio Robertson
Rockwall Rusk
Sabine San Augustine
San Jacinto San Patricio
Shackelford Shelby
Smith Somervell
Starr Stephens
Stonewall Taylor
Throckmorton Titus
Travis Trinity
Tyler Val Verde
Van Zandt Victoria
Walker Waller
Ward Washington
Webb Wharton
Wichita Wilbarger
Willacy Williamson
Wise Wood
Young Zapata
Zavala  
Microfilm Access

County records on microfilm are available to borrow through interlibrary loan (ILL). Please contact your local library for assistance with borrowing the film. Your request should include the specific reel numbers for the microfilm you wish to use, as well as the name of the county and name of the repository that houses the film reels. Individuals requesting to borrow film as a patron of TSLAC may wish to review our ILL policies for registration and request instructions.

Loan Policies for Libraries

  • No more than five (5) reels of microfilm may be on loan to the same researcher at the same time.
  • Microfilm can be loaned for fourteen (14) days, but loans may be extended for an additional fourteen days if no other request for the microfilm has been received.
  • The microfilm is for in-library use only and cannot be removed by the researcher from the premises of the requesting institution.

In addition to ILL, some repositories may allow on-site access to the county records on microfilm they house. Contact a repository for more information about visiting their facility to access the reels.

Certified Copies

TSLAC and requesting institutions are not permitted to provide certified copies of documents on microfilm. If a certified copy is needed, the researcher should obtain it from the county clerk or district clerk who is the custodian of the original record. The current custodian of the records of the county superintendents of schools is the county clerk.

Condition of Microfilmed Records

Though the filming process attempts to capture the best possible image of each page of each document, the result may not be microfilm that is easy to read due to the original condition of the record. Known issues include:

  • Nineteenth century iron-based inks can chip away, leaving a faint reddish-brown "ghost" script that is extremely difficult to read.
  • Aged handwriting on blue paper, popular with nineteenth century paper manufacturers, can be nearly illegible, even to the naked eye.
  • Sharp legibility may be sacrificed during filming to avoid damaging original records.

Researchers should attempt to see the original document in those instances in which the quality of the microfilm is poor. Contact the county clerk or district clerk who is the custodian of the original record.

Additional Sources of Local Records

Not all county records have been microfilmed. Additional records may be available through these county and local resources.

Related Materials
Page last modified: July 8, 2022