Arkansas Historical Societies

This directory lists 7 historical societies, museums, and archives in Arkansas, including the Fort Smith National Historic Site, where the federal court for the Indian Territory sat from 1872 to 1896 and left behind a large body of case files now at the National Archives. Below the listings you will find a working guide to the state repositories, vital records, land records, newspapers, and building-history sources that Arkansas researchers use most.

Arkansas Territory was organized in 1819 and the state entered the Union on June 15, 1836. Because Arkansas was carved from the public domain, the first private title to most parcels is a federal land patent rather than a colonial grant, although Spanish-era claims around Arkansas Post were honored after 1812. Statewide birth and death registration did not begin until February 1, 1914, so for anything earlier you will be working with county, church, cemetery, and newspaper sources.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories for Arkansas research

The Arkansas State Archives (a division of Arkansas Heritage) is at 1 Capitol Mall, Suite 2B-215, in Little Rock. It holds the official archives of the state plus county records on microfilm, newspapers, maps, manuscripts, and military records including the Confederate pension applications. The reading room is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., and on the first and third Saturday of the month; parking and admission are free. The Archives also operates regional branches and publishes scanned government, county, and military records through its Arkansas Digital Archives. Start at arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-state-archives.

• Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art, 401 President Clinton Avenue, Little Rock: the special-collections branch of the Central Arkansas Library System. It houses the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture, and a genealogy department. See robertslibrary.org.
• University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections, Mullins Library room 134, 365 N. McIlroy Ave., Fayetteville: manuscript collections, the Arkansas Collection, and digitized materials. The reading room is open by appointment, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed noon to 1). Details at libraries.uark.edu/specialcollections.
• Arkansas Historical Association, based at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, publishes the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, the best place to look for a scholarly article on a county, town, or event: arkansashistoricalassociation.org.

Birth, death, marriage, and divorce records in Arkansas

Arkansas began statewide registration of births and deaths on February 1, 1914; compliance was spotty for the first two decades. Only a limited number of certificates exist for events before that date, with two exceptions: the cities of Little Rock and Fort Smith kept their own birth and death registers beginning in 1881. Certified copies are issued by the Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records, 4815 West Markham Street, Little Rock, and can be ordered online, by phone, by mail, or in person. The state's published fee is $12 for a first birth certificate ($10 for each additional copy of the same record) and $10 for a first death certificate ($8 for additional copies).

• Marriages: the Department of Health holds marriage records from 1917 forward. For earlier marriages, go to the County Clerk in the county that issued the license; many county marriage books run back to the county's formation.
• Divorces: the Department of Health has divorce records filed since 1923. Earlier divorces are in the files of the circuit or chancery court clerk in the county where the decree was granted.
• Death substitutes before 1914: the State Archives maintains an index of early Arkansas deaths (1819 to 1920) that points to church publications, cemetery records, mortality schedules, obituaries, and county records.

Land, deed, and property records

Arkansas is a public-land state. After Indian removal, the federal government surveyed the land and sold it through district land offices, so the first private owner of most tracts appears in a General Land Office patent. Search those patents free at the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office Records site, which includes patent images and survey plats. Spanish and French claims recognized after 1812 are concentrated in Arkansas and Desha counties.

Every later transfer between private parties is recorded in the county. In Arkansas the Circuit Clerk serves as ex officio county recorder (Arkansas Code 14-15-402) and keeps the deed books, mortgages, plats, and grantor-grantee indexes. This surprises researchers from states where a separate Register of Deeds exists; when you write to an Arkansas courthouse, address the Circuit Clerk, not the County Clerk, for deeds. The State Archives holds microfilm of many county deed books, and the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (cosl.org) handles tax-delinquent land sales and maintains a history and archives section for state land matters.

Newspapers and city directories

Arkansas does not run a separate statewide newspaper portal; instead the Arkansas State Archives contributes digitized titles to the Library of Congress's free Chronicling America database, where you can search Arkansas papers by keyword and limit by state, title, and year. For titles not yet digitized, the State Archives holds the state's largest newspaper microfilm collection, and the University of Arkansas Special Collections and the Roberts Library in Little Rock hold additional runs.

City directories for Little Rock, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, and other towns are most complete at the Roberts Library's genealogy department and the State Archives. Directories list a resident's address and occupation year by year, which makes them the fastest way to date when a family arrived at or left an address; our article on using old city directories explains the method.

Census, military, and statewide indexes

Arkansas appears in federal censuses from 1830 onward (as a territory in 1830). Useful substitutes for the gaps include:

• 1823 and 1829 sheriff's censuses, taken for the territorial government and available on FamilySearch.
• 1911 Census of Confederate Veterans, a questionnaire campaign that recorded birthplace, service, and family details for aging veterans.
• Confederate pension applications, 1891 to 1936: almost 50,000 Arkansans or their widows applied under the state program that ran until 1939. The files, together with Arkansas Confederate Home records (1901 to 1959) and reunion registrations, are at the State Archives, which uses a WPA-era index compiled in 1935 and 1936.
• State land records and territorial-era government records scanned by the Arkansas Digital Archives.

For the Indian Territory period, the Fort Smith federal court records (1866 to 1896) are a rich source for anyone whose ancestors lived in western Arkansas or across the line in present-day Oklahoma.

Researching a house or building in Arkansas

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) is the State Historic Preservation Office, located at 1100 North Street, Little Rock, phone 501-324-9880. It maintains the state's historic site survey files, nominates properties to the National Register of Historic Places, and runs the Arkansas Register of Historic Places, a state-level listing for buildings that do not meet National Register criteria. AHPP also administers the state Historical Marker Program, cemetery preservation, Main Street Arkansas, and the state rehabilitation tax credit. Begin at arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-historic-preservation-program; if a property has already been surveyed or listed, the nomination form will contain a researched construction date and ownership history.

To build your own chain of title, work backward through the Circuit Clerk's deed indexes as described in tracing a property's deed history, then check construction dates against Sanborn fire insurance maps. Library of Congress scans of pre-1900 Arkansas Sanborn maps are free online, and the Central Arkansas Library System provides access to the Fire Insurance Maps Online (FIMo) database covering later editions for Arkansas towns. For step-by-step help see when was my house built and researching an old building's history.

Working with Arkansas historical societies

Most Arkansas local history is held at the county level: nearly every county has a historical society, many of which publish a quarterly and keep a small research room in the courthouse, library, or a museum. Hours are usually limited to one or two days a week and often staffed by volunteers, so email before you drive. When you contact a society, give the full name, the township or town, and a decade; volunteers can check cemetery surveys, obituary files, and family folders far faster with those three facts. Burial questions are best started with the society's cemetery survey, then cross-checked using the approach in finding where someone is buried.

Additional Arkansas History Resources

• Arkansas State Archives - State archives in Little Rock: county microfilm, newspapers, Confederate pensions, digital archives
• Arkansas Historic Preservation Program - State Historic Preservation Office; National and Arkansas Registers, markers, survey files
• Roberts Library (Central Arkansas Library System) - Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, genealogy department, Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• University of Arkansas Special Collections - Manuscripts and the Arkansas Collection at Mullins Library, Fayetteville
• Arkansas Historical Association - Publisher of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly
• Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands - State land office; tax-delinquent land sales and state land history
• BLM General Land Office Records - Free federal land patents and survey plats for Arkansas
• Chronicling America - Free digitized Arkansas newspapers at the Library of Congress
• FamilySearch Wiki: Arkansas Vital Records - Dates, custodians, and online indexes for Arkansas vital records

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Arkansas start keeping birth and death certificates?

Statewide registration began on February 1, 1914, and many events went unrecorded for years afterward. Little Rock and Fort Smith kept city birth and death registers from 1881. Certified copies for 1914 onward come from the Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records, in Little Rock.

Which office holds deeds in an Arkansas county?

The Circuit Clerk, who is the ex officio county recorder under Arkansas Code 14-15-402. The Circuit Clerk keeps deed books, mortgages, plats, and grantor-grantee indexes. The County Clerk handles marriage licenses, probate, and county court business instead.

Where are Arkansas Confederate pension records?

At the Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock. Applications span 1891 to 1936 and cover nearly 50,000 veterans and widows; the Archives also holds Arkansas Confederate Home records (1901 to 1959) and the 1911 Confederate veterans questionnaires, with scans available through its digital archives.

Where can I read old Arkansas newspapers online for free?

Chronicling America at the Library of Congress carries Arkansas titles digitized by the Arkansas State Archives. Papers not yet online are on microfilm at the State Archives, which also loans or copies pages, and at the University of Arkansas and Roberts Library in Little Rock.