707-308-3212
Open Tuesday-Saturday 11-5
1725 Peterson Lane
Santa Rosa, CA 707-525-0399
Open Tuesday 1-5; Wednesday 1-5; and Saturday 9-1.
They are closed the 1st Saturday in April and October; Memorial and Labor Day weekends; July 4 week; Thanksgiving week; and December 18 through January 1.
The Family History Center at the Santa Rosa Regional Branch library is a genealogy library associated with the LDS Church. The exact hours do change, so it would be wise to call before you go. What the LDS Library involves is extensive computer and internet based genealogical information, with volunteers who can provide new researchers with a lot of help. There are computers available for use free of charge. Also, you can order microfilms from the main Family History Center in Salt Lake City. There is a charge for the microfilms, but if you can target something of real value (specific church or tax records, for example) they may be well worth it. Microfiche is available and can be researched at the Family History Center. They also have some books on local history. They have free access to a number of subscription websites, including Fold3, FindmyPast, and Ancestry.
REGIONAL SITES
The California Genealogical Society is very active in California based genealogy. It is located in the Breuner Building at 2201 Broadway, Oakland. The library is free and open to the public throughout the month of October, as well as the first Saturday of each month. Membership plans are available in a variety of levels including Individual $40, Family $55.00. There is an outstanding collection of city directories.
The California State Library has a large collection of genealogy and history information at the California State Library - Sutro Branch (not to mention even more about California in the main branch in Sacramento).
Sutro Library in San Francisco has an extensive genealogy collection which is housed in a new building on the San Francisco State University Campus. The collection, unfortunately, is somewhat dated, but it is an excellent place to find books and materials on genealogy throughout the country.. It includes Adolph Sutro's rare book and manuscript collections. Genealogical, family and local history catalogs. Special indexes, guides, and bibliographies. Sutro Library materials can be accessed through the California State Library Main Catalog and Sutro staff is available to assist in-house customers with the resources. Sutro items may be borrowed by requesting an interlibrary loan through your local public library.
The California History Room Collection in Sacramento covers all aspects of life in the State from prehistoric times to the present. In addition to the books and periodicals listed in the Main Catalog, there are many other materials available such as Newspapers, Maps, and Ephemera. Items such as photographs, prints, vertical file materials, telephone books, some maps, city directories, and special indexes are not listed in the Main Catalog. However, the California State Library Picture Catalogs lists some of the Library's graphic materials, including some photographs and prints. Manuscript collections of the California State Library are described in the Online Archive of California. Staff is available in the History Room to provide assistance in using the online catalogs and the many special materials and files. Staff also provides access to the Rare book collection.
1000 Commodore Drive
San Bruno, CA 94066-2350
National Archives (NARA) Pacific Region in San Francisco has more than 48,000 cubic feet of archival holdings dating from about l850 to the l980s, including textual documents, photographs, maps, and architectural drawings. These archival holdings were created or received by the Federal courts and more than 100 Federal agencies in northern California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada (except Clark County), American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Federal law requires that agencies transfer permanently valuable, non-current records to NARA.