Local History & Genealogy

Tree and Book

We are happy to provide information and copies of documents from our collection to local or long-distance researchers. 

To request records, please fill out our Local History Request Form

Getting Started

Local History and Genealogy Research Guide- This is an external site created by library staff to help you with your research. This site is easy to navigate and is neatly organized to help you find the resources you need.

Or select a topic and find relevant resources for you:

Iredell County Historic Photographs

The library has an extensive collection of historic photographs of Iredell County, including over 100,000 photographs of people and places, over 230 yearbooks for schools in Iredell County, personnel letters, historic maps and publications.

Click Here to view our historic photograph collection.

Local History Collection Indexes

View indexes of collections held in the Iredell County Public Library’s Local History room. 

Click Here to view our indexes. Indexes are also arranged by topic:

  1. Insta Posts (1)

    Governor Arthur Dobbs, The Critical Years: 1753-1765

    Join us for a local history program featuring guest speaker Dr. Roger Roark, who will discuss the historical significance of Governor Dobbs, his role in shaping North Carolina history, and his ties to Fort Dobbs. Read on...
  2. 16

    People Who Made Iredell Communities

    This program will feature special guest speaker Justin Anderson, writer of the blog, Abandoned NC. Read on...
  3. 15

    Tom Dooley: Iredell's Enigma

    Charlotte Corbin Barnes, author of The Tom Dooley Files, will present her research on the study of the famous North Carolina legend. Read on...
  4. 17

    Local History and Genealogy Digital Collections

    Come and learn about the new Digital Collections at our library for Local History & Genealogy. Thousands of images and documents have been scanned and added to this collection to provide more access for patrons. Read on...
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Local History Resources

Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition provides access to billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos, plus local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s.  
Digital Sanborn Maps

Sanborn fire insurance maps chart the growth and development of thousands of America towns and cities across a century. Genealogists and local historians,will find the maps a valuable tool.

Heritage Quest Online

Heritage Quest Online is a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more.

Newspaper Archive

The world's largest online newspaper archive, including Statesville newspapers from 1874 to 1977. 

North Carolina Digital Heritage Center The Iredell Citizen newspaper (1998-2008), Iredell County School Scrapbooks (1970-1981), Mitchell yearbooks, and more can be viewed at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center which is a statewide digitization effort to preserve local and state history and to make them accessible to the public. Cultural institutions from across the state contribute items to be digitized and published online. The Iredell County Public Library has made its contributions through the years and continues to do so. 
Historic North Carolina Digital Newspaper Collection North Carolina Collection from Newspapers.com. 3.5 million pages of digitized content from over 1,000 NC county newspapers.
Statesville Record & Landmark Statesville Record & Landmark from 2007 to the current issue via NewsBank.
Genealogical Society of Iredell County The collection of the GSIC is located in the Genealogy Room in the library and many of their inventory has been indexed. Both society members and library staff are able to assist with navigating the physical and digital collections.
  1. Joel Reese

    Local History Librarian
    Phone: 704-878-3090 x3093

  2. Shellie Taylor

    Library Program Specialist
    Phone: 704-878-3090 x8801