RLP 4: Locality Research Part 1

Today we're talking about preparing to research by learning more about the where your ancestor lived. Doing locality research is absolutely essential! Previously, we talked about objectives in epsidode 2, and analysis in episode 3. Those are the first steps in a research project. Today, Diana and I are going to dive in to the next step, locality research, and talk in depth about all the ways you can learn more about a location.

Before creating a research plan and digging into sources, it's so important to prepare by learning about the location. Diana will tell about a mystery in her timeline and how location researched helped solve it. Have you tried making a locality guide yet? In Research Like a Pro: A Genealogists Guide, we assign that project after Chapter 3. This episode will go into detail about how to find the resources you'll want to include in your locality guide.

We are going to tell you all about the three questions to ask when you do locality research, and sources online and offline that can help. We'll talk about maps, boundary changes, jurisdictions, geography, history, county histories, biographies, the FamilySearch catalog's listing of records by location, and more. We had so much to talk about, that we decided to split this episode into two! Locality Research Part 2 will come out next Monday.

To sign up for the Research Like a Pro Study Group or eCourse, click here. The sale on the eCourse ($89) ends August 19. Registration ends Aug 31.

Links

• Search – Places: FamilySearch - details about any place in the world, including research links, jurisdictions, etc.
• Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States - historical, cultural, and geographic info from 1492-1931
• Cyndi's List - genealogical links by location
• David Rumsey Map Collection - thousands of historical maps for locations worldwide
• Google Maps - street view, lakes, rivers, cemeteries, schools
• Google Earth - view area topographically; mountains, valleys, rivers that affected migration
• Library of Congress Maps - thousands of U.S. historical maps
• England Jurisdictions 1851 - counties of England with Parish and civil jurisdictions from FamilySearch
• Vision of Britain through Time - Contains topographic, boundary, historical maps and more for the British Isles
• FamilySearch Wiki - great starting point for location research; migration routes, etc.
• Google books and Internet Archive - sources for digitized gazetteers
• Atlas of Historical County Boundaries by the Newberry Library - boundary changes in the United States
• FamilySearch Catalog - great source for finding location specific records; many digitized county histories

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The image of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition used in the podcast episode image is from the NYPL Digital Collections website, here.