Allegheny County Pennsylvania Genealogy

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Genealogy

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Genealogy contains information and records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Specifically, it provides sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, court records, and military records. It also provides some historical details about different times and people in Allegheny County Pennsylvania history.

Allegheny County was formed on September 24, 1788, from a part of Westmoreland and Washington.

There are 132 minor governmental divisions in Allegheny County, most of which are, geographically, integral with Pittsburgh. Situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, which here unite and form the Ohio River, this district is one of the richest bituminous coal and natural gas fields in the world, and is known as “The Workshop of the World.”

See further: Organization of Counties in Pennsylvania

Legend:

SymbolMeaning
$Commercial Subscription Service or Society where paid membership is required in order to view the records. We include them here only when the records cannot be found elsewhere.
§To view these images do one of the following:

Table of Contents

Townships of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

There are four cities, eighty-four boroughs and forty-four townships in the county.

Cities in Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  •  Clairton
  • Duquesne
  • McKeesport
  • Pittsburgh (county seat)

Boroughs in Allegheny County Pennsylvania

In the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a borough (sometimes spelled boro) is a self-governing municipal entity, best thought of as a town, usually smaller than a city, but with a similar population density in its residential areas. Sometimes thought of as “junior cities”, boroughs generally have fewer powers and responsibilities than full-fledged cities.

  • Aspinwall
  • Avalon
  • Baldwin
  • Bell Acres
  • Bellevue
  • Ben Avon
  • Ben Avon Heights
  • Bethel Park
  • Blawnox
  • Brackenridge
  • Braddock
  • Braddock Hills
  • Bradford Woods
  • Brentwood
  • Bridgeville
  • Carnegie
  • Castle Shannon
  • Chalfant
  • Cheswick
  • Churchill
  • Coraopolis
  • Crafton
  • Dormont
  • Dravosburg
  • East McKeesport
  • East Pittsburgh
  • Edgewood
  • Edgeworth
  • Elizabeth
  • Emsworth
  • Etna
  • Forest Hills
  • Fox Chapel
  • Franklin Park
  • Glassport
  • Glen Osborne
  • Glenfield
  • Green Tree
  • Haysville
  • Heidelberg
  • Homestead
  • Ingram
  • Jefferson Hills
  • Leetsdale
  • Liberty
  • Lincoln
  • McDonald (mostly in Washington County)
  • McKees Rocks
  • Millvale
  • Monroeville
  • Mount Oliver
  • Munhall
  • North Braddock
  • Oakdale
  • Oakmont
  • Pennsbury Village
  • Pitcairn
  • Pleasant Hills
  • Plum
  • Port Vue
  • Rankin
  • Rosslyn Farms
  • Sewickley
  • Sewickley Heights
  • Sewickley Hills
  • Sharpsburg
  • Springdale
  • Swissvale
  • Tarentum
  • Thornburg
  • Trafford (mostly in Westmoreland County)
  • Turtle Creek
  • Verona
  • Versailles
  • Wall
  • West Elizabeth
  • West Homestead
  • West Mifflin
  • West View
  • Whitaker
  • White Oak
  • Whitehall
  • Wilkinsburg
  • Wilmerding

Townships in Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  • Aleppo
  • Baldwin
  • Collier
  • Crescent
  • East Deer
  • Elizabeth
  • Fawn
  • Findlay
  • Forward
  • Frazer
  • Hampton
  • Harmar
  • Harrison
  • Indiana
  • Kennedy
  • Kilbuck
  • Leet
  • Marshall
  • McCandless
  • Moon
  • Mt. Lebanon
  • Neville
  • North Fayette
  • North Versailles
  • O’Hara
  • Ohio
  • Penn Hills
  • Pine
  • Reserve
  • Richland
  • Robinson
  • Ross
  • Scott
  • Shaler
  • South Fayette
  • South Park
  • South Versailles
  • Springdale
  • Stowe
  • Upper Saint Clair
  • West Deer
  • Wilkins

Biographies of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Cemeteries of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Reference list to publications that contain gravestone inscriptions from Adams, Allegheny, Bedford, Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh and York counties, Pennsylvania
Digital images of original manuscript: [19–?]. 1 v.

The following websites provides an exhaustive listing of both transcriptions and grave photographs for cemeteries within Allegheny County.

Census and Tax Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Tax Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Church Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  • Birmingham United Church of Christ Records 1843-1977
    Collection contains a constitution and journal, history, minute books, lists of members, memorial publications, baptismal, marriage, burial, and financial records from 1843-1977 of the Birmingham United Church of Christ.
  • History of Butler Presbytery
    A historical sketch of the Presbytery of Allegheny and its legal successor, the Presbytery of Butler.
  • A history of the Catholic church in the dioceses of Pittsburg and Allegheny
    From its establishment to the present time. Digital images of original published: New York : Benziger Bros., 1880. 531 p. : ports. ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references.
  • History of the First Presbyterian Church of Allegheny
    Read on July 2d and 9th, 1876 / by Elliot E. Swift ; and published by direction of the Trustees. Digital images of original published: Pittsburgh : Wm. G. Johnston & Co., Printers, 1884. 259 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. Appendix – p. 235-258. Includes bibliographical references (p. 259).
  • Brief biographies of ruling elders in the First Presbyterian Church, Allegheny
    During the first fifty years of its history. Portions of which were read at the fiftieth anniversary of the church, February 26th, 1880 / by Elliot E. Swift
  • Father Peter Helbron’s baptismal register at Sportsman’s Hall, Penna §
    Microfilm of original published in American Catholic Historical Society records; p. [371]-375, [248]-263, [65]-73, [161]-173, [346]-355, [85]-90, [135]-149, [266]-276, [297]-309. Contains baptisms 1799-1828, marriages 1800-1830, funerals 1800-1819. Father Helbron entered the record 1799-1815, Father G.F.X. O’Brien entered 1815-1817, Rev. Charles Maguire 1817-1820, and Terrence McGirr for 1821-1830. Father Helbron’s missionary journeys to the Catholic families along the western slopes of the Allegheny Mountains include the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington, Greene, Allegheny, Butler, and Armstrong. Sportsman’s Hall (or Clear Spring as he called it) was home base and located outside Latrobe in Unity Township, Westmoreland County. It is now St. Vincent’s Abbey. Specific places visited were Greensburg, Westmoreland County; Slippery Rock (uncertain locality); Buffalo Creek, now St. Patrick’s, in Sugarcreek Township, Armstrong County; Donegal (Township in Butler County?) and Murrinsville (in Butler County) as part of the Buffalo Creek Mission; Pittsburg area; and Redstone, now Brownsville, in Fayette County.
  • History of the churches of the Pittsburgh Baptist association
  • A history of the Presbyterian church of Sewickley, Pennsylvania
    Consisting of certain addresses, delivered February 16-19, 1913, on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the permanent organization of the church, together with a compendium of events, photographs and notes, prepared by a committee of the congregation
  • Early Pittsburgh Presbyterianism $
    McKinney, William Wilson,. Early Pittsburgh Presbyterianism : tracing the development of the Presbyterian Church, United States of America, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1758-1839. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Gibson Press, 1938.
  • East Liberty Presbyterian Church
    With historical setting and a narrative of the centennial celebration, April 12-20, 1919. Pittsburgh: Murdoch, Kerr & Co. Press, 1919.
  • The History of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh
    The History of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh, 1837-1909. Philadelphia: Printed for the congregation by J.B. Lippincott Co., c1909.
  • Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 $
    This database is a large collection of records containing vitals (birth, marriage, death) from churches and towns located primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The dates range from 1669-2013. The documents in this database are mostly Protestant church records from congregations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but there are also some for locations in the neighboring states of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. In addition to church records, sources also include funeral homes, cemeteries, newspapers, historical societies, and personal records.
    • Ascension Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh
    • Bailey Avenue United Presbyterian Church of Mt Washington, Pittsburgh
    • Bethany Presbyterian Church, Bridgeville
    • Christ United Presbyterian Church, Carnegie
    • Church of the Epiphany, Pittsburgh
    • Church of the Epiphany, Sharpsburg
    • Dutilh United Methodist Church, Pitcairn
    • Edgewood Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh
    • First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sharpsburg
    • First Hungarian Reformed Church, Pittsburgh
    • First Presbyterian Church, Duquesne
    • First United Presbyterian Church, Turtle Creek
    • Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of South Hills, Pittsburgh
    • Grace Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh
    • Greystone United Presbyterian Church, Coraopolis
    • Hampton United Presbyterian Church, Gibsonia
    • Hiland Presbyterian Church, Ross
    • Hillcrest United Presbyterian Church, Monroeville
    • Jefferson Congregation of the American Reformed Church, Jefferson
    • McGinnis Presbyterian Church, Pitcairn
    • Mount Pisgah United Presbyterian Church, Green Tree
    • Mount Vernon Community United Presbyterian Church, McKeesport
    • Mt Lebanon United Presbyterian Church, Mount Lebanon
    • Redeemer Lutheran Church, Oakmont
    • Springdale United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh
    • St Luke´s Lutheran Church, Shaler Township
    • St Luke´s Memorial Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh
    • St Matthew´s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh
    • St Thomas Memorial Episcopal Church, Oakmont
    • Trinity Episcopal Church, Sharpsburg
    • Valley Presbyterian Church, Imperial
    • West End United Church of Christ, Pittsburgh
    • Zion Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh

Court Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania, and deeds dating back to 1788

There are no known courthouse disasters for Allegheny County PA.

Allegheny County Register of Wills
City-County Building
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2469

  • Powers of attorney, 1851-190
    Microfilm of originals at the County Office Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each volume also includes its own index. Records of powers of attorney which allow named individuals to act in various matters, including business, probate, and real estate transactions.
  • Index to adoption and change of name, Allegheny County (Pennsylvania), 1865-1917
    Microfilm of original indexes at the City County Building, City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Includes two volumes, A-L, M-S. (T-Z not on film).
  • Orphans’ court dockets, 1789-1905
    Microfilm of the original records at the City County Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each volume has an index.
  • Dental registers, 1897-1964
    Microfilm of original registers in the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. County registration books for dentists. Information includes area of origin, school of degree and places practiced. Includes an index at the beginning of each number.
  • Medical registers, 1881-1927
    Microfilm of original registers in the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Includes a registration of doctors in the county. Information in records varies. May include area of origin of doctor, place of degree, places where he has practiced. Includes an index at the beginning of each register.
  • Midwifery register, 1920-1931
    Microfilm of original register at the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Register of licensed midwives. Includes index.
  • Optometry register, 1918-1971
    Microfilm of original register at the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Register of licensed optometrists. Includes index.
  • Osteopathic register, 1909-1929
    Microfilm of original register at the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Register of practicing osteopaths for the county. Includes index.
  • Veterinary medical register, 1889-1922
    Microfilm of original register at the City County building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Register of practicing veterinarians. Information includes area of nativity, place and date of degree and places where practiced. Includes index.

Probate Records of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Allegheny county has wills dating back to 1789.

  • Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994
    This collection includes probate records created in Pennsylvania counties. The records include wills, estate records and indexes.
  • Will books, 1789-1917
    Microfilm of original records at the City County Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each volume is indexed. Vol. 1-59 of the will books are transcripts of the original will packets or files which may be found in author-title catalog under: Allegheny County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills. Will packets or files, 1789-1917. Volumes 85-136 were filmed in 1975 by the C. Edwin Hultman Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • Will packets or files, 1789-1917
    Microfilm of original files at the City and County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To use this record, consult the Estate index which gives the vol. number in the Proceedings index. These will packets are listed under the deceased’s name as WB (will book). A transcript of v. 1-59 of will packets may be found in author-title catalog under: Allegheny County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills. Will books 1789-1917.
  • Index to Allegheny County, Pa., wills, volumes 1-12, 1789-1869
  • Estate index 1788-1971 ; Proceedings index 1788-1971
    Microfilm of the original records at the City-County Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These are indexes to the records of the Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court. Locate the name of the deceased in the Estate index which also gives the death date, residence, personal representative; volume, page and block numbers of the Proceedings index in which to locate the records processed. Some records are: AC, account; AD, CC letters of administration; AU, audit; BD, letters of administration; G1, guardian inventory; IN, inventory and app.; OC, guardian appt., Orphan Court?; R1, receipt, release; RD, record of death; RG, citation; TR, trust account; WB, will book; etc.
  • Allegheny County probated deaths only (1874-1903)
    Microfilm of original records in the Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh, Pa. Indexes appear at the front of each volume. Sworn statements by informants giving the name of deceased, date of death, and residence. The records are arranged by date of registration with the Register of Wills. The deaths may have occurred a few days to a year before being registered.
  • A Goodly Heritage: Earliest Wills on an American Frontier
    By Ella Chalfant. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1955. xiv, 242 p. Illustrations, bibliography, appendices, index. For the historian, as well as the genealogist, wills are revealing documents, particularly when they constitute much of the written legacy of a frontier region. In her compilation and analysis of the earliest wills of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (covering in general the years 1789-1820), Miss Chalfant has provided researchers in many fields with source material on the social, economic, and even on the cultural life of this area. Of equal importance is the biographical data contained in these wills and in the author’s discussion of them. The arrangement of wills is more than a mere listing: they are presented by type (dictated and holograph) and by particular emphasis (slavery, indenture, and apprenticeship, religion and education, women in wills and women’s wills, Pittsburgh as a western frontier, and the fabric of Pitts-burgh). There is also a chapter on four early intestates. All are brought into a whole by Miss Chalfant’s running comments on the wills themselves, their authors, and their significance. In addition, Miss Chalfant has pro-vided in an appendix an alphabetical index of names in the first three will books of Allegheny County.

Directories of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Medical Directories of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Genealogy of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  • Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania
    The Allegheny River flows through the counties of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Clarion, Venango, Forest, and Warren. Includes index.
  • Memoirs of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; personal and genealogical
  • A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people
    A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people with genealogical memoirs of the leading families of Pittsburgh and vicinity, compiled under the editorial supervision of John W. Jordan.
  • Pittsburgh of today : its resources and people $
    Harper, Frank C.. Pittsburgh of today : its resources and people. 4 vol. New York: American Historical Society, 1931.
  • Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania genealogies
    (Fragmenta genealogica heraldica). by Whayman, Horace W., ed. Pittsburgh, Pierpont-Siviter co. 1906.

Family Genealogies

  • The Kuhn (Coon) family of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
    with reprint of History & genealogy of the Kuhn family
  • Conrad Hertz of Brecknock
    Soldier in the war of the revolution, documentary record and chronology of Conrad Hertz and of other Hertz (or Hartrz) kin interred in the old cemetery of Allegheny Union Church (Alleghenyville, Brecknock Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania), also of their kin in other cemeteries of Pennsylvania.

Historical Newspapers in Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Obituaries of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

History of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Allegheny county was erected by Act of September 24, 1788, out of Westmoreland and Washington counties, and named for the Allegheny River. It is a Delaware Indian word meaning “fair water.” One of the ten counties in Pennsylvania which bear Indian names. In 1789 an additional part of Washington County was annexed; and by Act of April 3, 1792, the Erie Triangle, consisting of nearly 200,000 acres on Lake Erie, was purchased from the Federal Government and declared to be a part of Allegheny County. These extended limits of the county were subsequently reduced by the erection of the counties west and north of the Allegheny River. The present area is 725 square miles, with a population of 1,374,410 is second only to Philadelphia County. The seat of justice is Pittsburgh, scene of the struggle which culminated in the final withdrawal of the French, and the occupation of Fort Duquesne, November 25, 1758, which event fixed the destiny of the Colonies as a nucleus of an English-speaking Nation. But this coveted region did not long remain in the hands of the English, for Virginia and Pennsylvania stoutly contended for its possession, which was not finally determined until the close of the war for independence. Thus the Indians, the English, the French, the English again, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have in turn governed this region of which Allegheny County is the center.

History of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

History of Sewickly Pennsylvania

Civic Organization History and Lists

Immigration and Ethnic Records for Allegheny County PA

Ethnic History

Ethnic Newspapers in Allegheny County Pennsylvania-

Land Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Land records in Allegheny County began in 1788. These records are filed with the Department of Real Estate office (formerly the Record of Deeds) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If your ancestor lived in the area which became Allegheny County, they may have filed land claims with Virginia when the area was know as the District of West Augusta.

With the exception of the Revolutionary War years, the Land Office of the Commonwealth has operated continuously since William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 and began to administer and sell land. In 1981, the land records and the functions of the office were transferred to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Commonwealth land records only document transactions between the Penns or the post-revolutionary Commonwealth and the first purchaser(s) of each tract of land. Deeds transferring land titles between private citizens, either after or during the patenting process, are maintained at the office of the Recorder of Deeds for the appropriate county.

Military Records of Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Revolutionary War

  • Conrad Hertz of Brecknock
    Soldier in the war of the revolution, documentary record and chronology of Conrad Hertz and of other Hertz (or Hartrz) kin interred in the old cemetery of Allegheny Union Church (Alleghenyville, Brecknock Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania), also of their kin in other cemeteries of Pennsylvania.
  • Ephraim Douglass ledger books, 1769-1790
    The Ephraim Douglass Ledgers present a record of business and military activities undertaken by Ephraim Douglass in Western Pennsylvania. The information contained within dates primarily from the 1770s and illuminates aspects of life in Western Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War era. The ledgers reveal the foods, household items, and services in demand by colonists on what was, at the time, the western frontier. Douglass and his associates have meticulously recorded details of the transactions.

Civil War

World War 1

Naturalization Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  • Naturalization declarations of intention and petitions, 1798-1910
    Microfilm of original records at the City and County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Records of naturalization for the District Court of Allegheny County are also included. Very early records are also included from the Supreme Court of Allegheny County and the Circuit Court of Allegheny County. Records for later years are loosely in alphabetical order by first letter of surname. Early records are very mixed. Many of the petitioners in these records have been listed alphabetically with dates of petitions in “A list of immigrants who applied for naturalization papers in the district courts of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,” which can be found under the title in the catalog for this library.
  • Naturalization docket, 1799-1906, and declarations of intentions, 1883-1906
    Microfilm of original records at the City County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each volume of the declarations of intention includes an index at the beginning. The docket is in alphabetical order by first letter of last name. Some letters are out of order. The declaration volumes are chronological For petitions of those appearing in the docket, see the other set of naturalization records under “Pennsylvania. Court of Common Pleas (Allegheny County).” Not every name appearing in the petitions, occurs in the docket, however.

Vital Records for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Birth Records

Birth Certificates after 1908 must be ordered from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records.

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Death Records

Coroner Records in Allegheny County Pennsylvania

  • Coroner’s Office Records, Allegheny County, PA 1887-1976
    Inquest files dating between 1887 and 1976, which reflect coroner’s verdicts for over ninety years. Digital reproductions of some of the notable case files are scanned and online, including files from the Homestead Steel Strike in1892 and the victims of Jack and Ed Biddle in 1901.

Death records, 1874-1903, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Microfilm of the original records at the City County Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Indexes are found at the beginning of each volume.

Death Certificates after 1963 must be ordered from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records.

  • Death register index for the city of Pittsburgh, 1851-1857
    Microfilm of original record at the Allegheny County courthouse in Pittsburgh. The deaths to which the index belongs are in the Pennsylvania State Archives. An index to deaths recorded by the Register of Wills in Allegheny County. The index was made on forms provided by the state Bureau of Health.
  • City of Pittsburgh Death Registers 1870-1905
    Originals housed at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Death registrations for the city of Pittsburgh from the Allegheny County Courthouse. The records are arranged in numbered bound volumes and are chronological; month and year.
  • Allegheny City (1876-May, 1907)
  • Allegheny County probated deaths only (1874-1903)
    Microfilm of original records in the Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh, Pa. Indexes appear at the front of each volume. Sworn statements by informants giving the name of deceased, date of death, and residence. The records are arranged by date of registration with the Register of Wills. The deaths may have occurred a few days to a year before being registered.
  • Allegheny County Deaths (1893-1905)
  • McKeesport (1887-1905)
  • Sewickley (1894-1905)

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Marriage Records

Pennsylvania marriage and divorce certificates are available from the county courthouse where the document was issued. Please visit the Orphans’ Court Clerks website for contact information.

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Divorce Records

Pennsylvania marriage and divorce certificates are available from the county courthouse where the document was issued. Please visit the Orphans’ Court Clerks website for contact information.

Yearbooks for Allegheny County Pennsylvania

High School Yearbooks for Allegheny County PA

College Yearbooks for Allegheny County PA