Maryland Historical Societies

This directory lists 6 historical societies, museums, and archives in Maryland, among them the Maryland Historical Society (now the Maryland Center for History and Culture) in Baltimore, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on the Eastern Shore. Use the cards below to find each organization's address, focus, and website.

Maryland began in 1634 as a proprietary colony of the Calvert family, which means every acre was first granted by the Lords Baltimore rather than the Crown, and the land office records run unbroken from that year. Maryland ratified the Constitution on April 28, 1788 as the seventh state. The quirk that trips up most researchers is Baltimore City: it has been independent of Baltimore County since 1851, keeps its own courts and deed books, and started civil registration of births and deaths in 1875, more than twenty years before the counties.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in Maryland

The Maryland State Archives occupies the Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse State Archives Building at 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis. It is the central repository for state, county, and municipal records back to 1634, and unusually for a state archive it also runs the online deed-book and plat systems used by title searchers. Its Guide to Government Records lets you search record series by agency, by series (birth records, land records, marriage licenses, court proceedings), or by record type, and shows whether each is on paper, microfilm, or electronic. Main site: msa.maryland.gov.

• Maryland Center for History and Culture, 610 Park Avenue, Baltimore. Founded in 1844 as the Maryland Historical Society and renamed in 2020, its H. Furlong Baldwin Library holds more than 7 million items across five centuries, including the Calvert Papers, the Carroll Papers, and large genealogical holdings.
• Enoch Pratt Free Library / State Library Resource Center, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore. Designated the state library in 1971. Its Maryland Department keeps city, county, and telephone directories from across the state, and its Periodicals Department holds historic newspapers from Baltimore City and every Maryland county. It also hosts Digital Maryland, a statewide digitization program.
• Baltimore City Archives, 2615 Mathews Street, Baltimore, is the depository for city government records and operates with help from the State Archives. Research is by appointment confirmed at least 48 hours ahead. msa.maryland.gov/bca
• University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, hold Maryland manuscript and newspaper collections in Hornbake Library and run the state's newspaper digitization program described below.

Maryland vital records

Civil registration started in Baltimore City in 1875 under a city ordinance of 1874, and in the 23 counties in 1898 under Chapter 312 of the Acts of 1898. Certified copies of recent records come from the Division of Vital Records, Maryland Department of Health, 201 West Preston Street, Baltimore (health.maryland.gov/vsa). For anything historical, go to the State Archives instead.

• Births: the State Archives holds a birth index from 1875 to 1950. Birth records are closed for 100 years or until the person's death; anything over 100 years old can be ordered without restriction.
• Deaths: the Archives holds death certificates from 1875 to 2012 for Baltimore City and from 1898 to 2012 for the counties, with online indexes described at msa.maryland.gov. For each of these, the Archives publishes a step-by-step PDF for finding a city or county record.
• Marriages: licenses are issued by the Clerk of the Circuit Court in each county (and the Baltimore City Circuit Court). Clergy and county courts recorded marriages as far back as the 1640s, and by 1865 every county was recording them; the older license books and indexes are at the State Archives and are listed in the Guide to Government Records.
• Divorces: granted by the county circuit courts after 1854; Baltimore City cases were heard in its own courts. Search the Guide for the court's equity or divorce dockets.

Land, deed, and property records

Maryland is a state-land state. Land was first granted by the proprietors through headrights (1633-1683) and later cash sales, and the Land Office records from 1634 to the present - warrants, surveys, patents, rent rolls, and debt books - are at the State Archives. Private transfers after the original grant were recorded by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of each county; Baltimore City deeds have been recorded separately from the county since 1851.

• Maryland Land Records (mdlandrec.net), presented by the State Archives, gives scanned images of the county deed books and indexes created by the circuit court clerks. You must register for an account, but there is no charge to search and view.
• PLATS.NET, built by the Archives with the Administrative Office of the Courts and the circuit court clerks, serves survey, subdivision, and condominium plats for every county plus state highway plats, with no registration required.
• For the colonial period, the Archives' land patent index and survey certificates are also online through the land records system, and its New Early Settlers of Maryland database indexes the headright-era immigrants.

Walk the chain backward one deed at a time using our deed-tracing guide; in Maryland you can usually do the whole chain from home.

Newspapers and city directories

The Historic Maryland Newspapers Project at the University of Maryland Libraries selects Maryland papers published before 1964 and digitizes them for the Library of Congress's free Chronicling America site; roughly 500,000 pages have gone online so far, including the Maryland Gazette and the Evening Capital of Annapolis. The Enoch Pratt Free Library's Historic Maryland Newspapers guide is the best map of what exists: it points to the Pratt's own microfilm and bound Baltimore Sun volumes, to the Maryland Early State Records Online set (1802-1965) from the State Archives, to the Afro-American archive, and to county collections such as the Carroll County Times digital archive.

For city directories, the Pratt's Maryland Department holds Baltimore directories plus city and reverse telephone directories for many counties, and the Baltimore City Archives can help with municipal records that place a person at an address. See how to use old city directories for reading the entries.

Census, military, and statewide indexes

• Colonial census: Maryland's 1776 census, listing heads of household and some household members, survives for a number of counties and is at the State Archives.
• Federal census: Maryland appears in every federal enumeration from 1790 onward; like every state it lost nearly all of 1890.
• Statewide indexes: the State Archives' birth (1875-1950), death, marriage, and probate indexes, all described in the Guide to Government Records, plus the Archives of Maryland Online series of transcribed colonial and state records.
• Military: the Archives holds the state's Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War service and pension-related series, and Fort McHenry in Baltimore interprets the 1814 defense of the city.
• Land and rent rolls: proprietary rent rolls and debt books at the Archives list every landholder by tract name, which is how Maryland land was identified before street addresses.

Researching a house or building in Maryland

The State Historic Preservation Office is the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), part of the Maryland Department of Planning, at 100 Community Place, Crownsville (mht.maryland.gov). It maintains the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP) and the state's National Register files. Its map-based system Medusa, Maryland's Cultural Resource Information System, lets you zoom to an address, resource name, or MIHP inventory number and open the survey form, which often includes a construction date and architectural description.

• Confirm the build date from the deed chain on mdlandrec.net and the first plat on PLATS.NET, then compare with Sanborn fire insurance maps for Baltimore and the county seats at the Library of Congress.
• Maryland's roadside historical marker program, formerly shared between the Trust and the Department of Transportation, is now administered by MDOT; the earliest markers date to 1930-1933 on the old post road in Harford and Cecil counties.
• Read how to find out when your house was built and how to research an old building for the general method.

Visiting Maryland's local societies

Nearly every Maryland county has a county historical society, usually in the county seat, and several Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland counties also run a county archive or a library room with microfilmed deeds and wills. Treat Baltimore City and Baltimore County as two separate jurisdictions when you ask about records. Because so much of the state's deed, plat, and vital material is already online through the State Archives, use a local visit for what is not: church registers, cemetery surveys, photographs, business ledgers, and the county society's own vertical files. Annapolis is the one-stop city for most researchers; the State Archives sits a short drive from the historic district, and both the Center for History and Culture and the Pratt Library in Baltimore are about 45 minutes away.

Additional Maryland History Resources

• Maryland State Archives - State archives in Annapolis; vital, land, probate, and court records from 1634
• Guide to Government Records - Search State Archives record series by agency, series, or record type
• Maryland Land Records (mdlandrec.net) - Scanned county deed books and indexes; free registration
• PLATS.NET - Survey, subdivision, and condominium plats for every county
• Division of Vital Records, Maryland Department of Health - Certified copies of recent birth and death certificates
• Maryland Historical Trust - State Historic Preservation Office; Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties
• Medusa - Map-based search of inventoried and National Register properties
• Baltimore City Archives - Baltimore City government records; research by appointment
• Enoch Pratt Free Library: Historic Maryland Newspapers - Guide to Maryland newspapers on microfilm and online
• Digital Maryland - Statewide digitized photographs, maps, and manuscripts

Frequently Asked Questions

How far back do Maryland birth and death certificates go?

Baltimore City began registering births and deaths in 1875 and the 23 counties in 1898. The Maryland State Archives in Annapolis holds death certificates from 1875 (city) and 1898 (counties) through 2012 and a birth index from 1875 to 1950. Births are restricted for 100 years; the Division of Vital Records in Baltimore issues recent certificates.

Can I view Maryland deeds online for free?

Yes. Maryland Land Records (mdlandrec.net), run by the State Archives, serves scanned deed books and indexes from the circuit court clerks of every county and Baltimore City after you register for a free account. PLATS.NET provides survey and subdivision plats with no registration at all.

Where are Baltimore City records kept?

City government records are at the Baltimore City Archives, 2615 Mathews Street, run with help from the State Archives and open by appointment confirmed 48 hours in advance. City vital records, court records, and deed books are also held or indexed by the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis. Remember that the city has been independent of Baltimore County since 1851.

Is there an index of historic properties in Maryland?

The Maryland Historical Trust maintains the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties and makes it searchable through Medusa, its online cultural resource map. You can search by address, property name, or MIHP number and open the survey form, which usually gives an estimated construction date and a description of the building.