Dallas County Records Held in the Dallas Public Library – 7th-Floor, Dallas History and Archives Division

By Suzan Younger

The Genealogy Section of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library is one of the top genealogical libraries in the United States. Many researchers visiting the library press the 8th-floor elevator button without thinking about another destination in the library. However, there are treasures to be found elsewhere in the library and the 7th-floor Dallas History and Archives department should be a routine stop for genealogists.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) officially designated the Dallas Public Library as the Regional Historical Resource Depository for Dallas County. Under this agreement, older government records with permanent historical value that are no longer needed by the agency that created them may be placed on deposit in the Dallas History and Archives Division. These records are from governmental agencies other than the federal government with offices in Dallas County, and it is not a comprehensive set of Dallas County records.

Current holdings include Dallas County Civil District Court records produced before 1939, early Dallas County medical and dental registers, and early Justice of the Peace inquest records. Some of these inquest records predate the issuance of death certificates and may provide an elusive death date. Many of these documents have been microfilmed, and the film is available to researchers in other communities; contact your local library’s Interlibrary loan department to request the film. You will find a list of available Dallas County documents at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s website, “Dallas County Records Available on Microfilm.”

The Dallas County records are just one example of the research materials genealogist love to use. The 7th-floor collection includes school annuals/yearbooks from the entire state, Texas telephone/city/criss-cross directories, and Texas newspapers on microfilm to name a few of the available record sets. There’s more than Dallas County records on this floor. Take some time to explore the Dallas History and Archives website. If you research Texas families, it’s a must-do.

The following is a list of the titles and dates of the microfilmed records, available for interlibrary-loan.

• Office of the District Clerk
  (Reels with indexes are listed with each group on the TSLAC website.)
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #14, 1846-1939District
• Court Civil Case Papers, 1846-1938
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #14, 1921-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #44, 1889-1940
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #44, 1921-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #68, 1909-1939
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #68, 1923-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #95, 1923-1939
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #95, 1923-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #101, 1925-1939
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #101, 1925-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #116, 1930-1939
• District Court Civil Minutes, District Court #116, 1930-1939; Auxiliary Minutes
• Law, Prtitions to Practice, 1872-1912
  Index: Arranged alphabetically
• (Naturalization) Declarations of Intention, 1889-1903
  Index: For a WPA index to the Naturalization Records, 1872-1912, request Reel 1305919
• Naturalization Case Papers, 1872-1912
  Index: For a WPA index to the Naturalization Records, 1872-1912, request Reel 1305919
• [Also see Dallas County, Texas Minute Book A, 1846-1855, 14th District Court Abstracts by Adrienne Bird Jamieson and Helen Mason Lu, compilers.]
• Link: https://catalog.dallaslibrary.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&pos=12&cn=2697052
• Office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct #1, Place #1
• (Death Record) Inquest Record, 1889-1968
  Index: Most volumes were individually indexed, although Volumes 19 through 26 and 31 through 32 were not indexed.
• Office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct #1, Place #2
• (Death Record) Inquest Record, 1901-1969
  Index: Each volume individually indexed; although some indexing was incomplete
• Office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct #2, Place #1
• (Death Record) Inquest Record, 1959-1969
• Office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct #6
• (Death Record) Inquest Record, 1959-1969
  Index: Each year is individually indexed
• Office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct #7
• (Death Record) Inquest Record, 1910-1953
  Index: Most volumes were individually indexed, although 1915-1920, 1922-1924, and 1937 volumes were not indexed
• Office of the Tax Assessor-Collector
• Tax Roll, 1846-1910
• Miscellaneous Records
• Calvary Hill Cemetery Burial Index File, 1926-1985
  Index: Arranged alphabetically
• Interment Record, 1926-1945
• Old Calvary Hill Cemetery Burial File, ca 1880-1943
  Index: Arranged alphabetically

Note: If you have a Texas school annual or yearbook you no longer need, please consider donating the book(s) to the Dallas History and Archives division. Check with the library staff to confirm it is not a duplicate if you cannot determine this from the list on the webpage.