City Guide to Philadelphia

As the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, Philadelphia is the backdrop for much of the United States’ founding. As the city thrived, it attracted so many people through its port that one in four Americans has at least one ancestor who spent time in the City of Brotherly Love. You can add a new chapter to your family history with help from our guide to Philadelphia’s nearly four centuries of records.

Not surprisingly, a city this rich in history has an abundance of records, but the restructuring of city boundaries and governmental agencies can make them hard to track down. Philadelphia was originally the seat of Philadelphia County, which included what are now Montgomery and eastern Berks counties. Since 1854, the city and county of Philadelphia have been coterminous, and most county offices were eliminated in 1952. While many records are indexed at the Philadelphia City Archives, some newer records are in the original offices.

•   Vital records: Most birth, marriage and death records are indexed in the city archives, and you can request a search and photocopies for a fee. The city archives has included select vital records from 1794 to 1915 in a searchable subscription database at Philadelphia Historical Land Records and Vitals site.

 Philadelphia city and county registered births from 1860 to 1915; the city archives holds these records. In 1906, the Pennsylvania Department of Health started issuing birth certificates.

The city archives also has indexed marriage records from 1860 to 1885. The orphans court holds marriage records from 1885 to 1951, and FamilySearch.org has an index of these records (click USA, Canada and Mexico, then select United States and look under Pennsylvania).

Cemetery returns start in 1803, and they’re organized by cemetery at the city archives. Death registration by the city runs from 1860 to 1915, and the state department of health began issuing death certificates in 1906. FamilySearch has a searchable online index, including many original images, of Philadelphia city death certificates from 1803 to 1915.

•   Land records: Philadelphia deeds from 1683 to 1974 are searchable in a subscription database at Philadelphia Historical Land Records and Vitals. Deeds from 1683 to 1951 are in the city archives, and the recorder of deeds holds land records from 1952 to the present.

•   Newspapers: The Free Library of Philadelphia is home to the area’s top collection of microfilmed newspapers, some 400 titles dating to 1720. Temple University has clippings and photograph files of the Philadelphia Bulletin, once the city’s dominant newspaper.

• Church records: Philadelphia is chock-full of religious and other specialty repositories, with various degrees of access. The Evangelical Lutheran Church Region 7 Archives is open for public research, while the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center treats sacramental records as confidential and will do limited research for genealogists.

• Probate: Philadelphia probate research is complicated because estates for which there are no wills haven’t been microfilmed; they’re available only from the register of wills. The Family History Library (FHL) has microfilmed probate indexes from 1682 to 1924. Especially in the Colonial era, when Philadelphia was both state capital and county seat, some estate records of people from other Pennsylvania counties are in Philadelphia County records.

• Naturalizations: Philadelphia’s immigration hub status means its archives has an abundance of naturalizations. Starting in 1793, naturalization applicants appeared before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, headquartered in the city. Since America’s independence, both city and county courts handled naturalizations; records are housed in the city archives. The National Archives and Records Administration has naturalizations performed before a federal court (1790-1991), as well as Philadelphia passenger lists (1800-1948).

• City directories: After sporadic publication in the 18th century, Philadelphia directories were printed annually from 1832 to 1930. Subscription site Fold3.com has directories for 1785, 1791, and 1793 to 1922. Ancestry.com has some late-19th and early-20th century directories, too.

• Censuses: Philadelphia returns of the Pennsylvania Septennial Census for 1793 and 1800 are available on microfilm at the Free Library of Philadelphia. US censuses for Pennsylvania start in 1790; they’re online at Ancestry.com and Archives.com, with some on FamilySearch.org. You’ll find them on microfilm at the National Archives, FHL and major genealogy libraries.

Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania include church abstracts and indexes, cemetery inscriptions, funeral home records and Bible records. Its resources are at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia headquarters, which also houses the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies’ records and newspapers. The combined collections are a rich resource for researchers in Philadelphia and beyond.

Settled: 1682

Incorporated: Oct. 25, 1701

Nicknames: City of Brotherly Love, Philly

State: Pennsylvania

County: Philadelphia (city and county boundaries are coterminous)

Area: 135 square miles

Primary immigrant or ethnic groups: English, Welsh, Irish, Germans, Italians, African-Americans

Historically important industries: Railroads, education, medicine, pharmaceuticals, finance, textiles

Famous residents: William S. Paley, John Wanamaker, Dick Clark, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, W.C. Fields, Grace Kelly, Marian Anderson, Benjamin Franklin

Population: 1750– 15,000; 1850– 121,376; 1900– 1,293,697; Current– 1,526,006

• 1682 William Penn founds Philadelphia
• 1690 William Rittenhouse establishes first paper mill
• 1723 Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia
• 1774 First Continental Congress convenes
• 1776 Declaration of Independence signed in Philadelphia
• 1787 Representatives meet to hash out the US Constitution
• 1790 Philadelphia serves as temporary US capital for 10 years
• 1816 William Henry has the nation’s first private residence illuminated with gas
• 1876 Nearly 10 million visit the city’s Centennial Exhibition and World’s Fair
• 1883 Philadelphia Phillies begin play
• 2001 Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts opens