Local History & Genealogy

Genealogy Room

Essex Public Library’s genealogy room is open during regular business hours. We strongly recommend you call (804) 443-4945 to make an appointment to use the room.

Local Digitized Newspapers

Browse or search historic local newspapers in Essex Public Library’s digital archives.

Yearbook Digitization Project

We have digitized 37 high school yearbooks from Essex Public Library’s local history collection. They are available online, thanks to the Yearbook Digitization Project from Library of Virginia. You can view the yearbooks at this link.

Unknown No Longer

Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names is an endeavor by the Virginia Historical Society to record the names of the slaves of Virginia. It is an ongoing effort to list the names of all enslaved African-Americans found in the eight million unpublished manuscripts in the Virginia Historical Society’s archives. A keyword search can be made with minimal information, such as the name of the plantation a descendant is believed to have lived on and his or her first name.

Ancestry for Virginians 

The Library of Virginia is pleased to provide Virginians free public access to select content from Ancestry.com. Through an agreement with Ancestry.com, the commonwealth’s citizens can access digitized and indexed records and materials that would otherwise require a paid Ancestry.com subscription.