Tennessee Historical Societies

This directory lists 3 historical societies, museums, and archives in Tennessee, led by the Tennessee State Museum on the Bicentennial Mall in Nashville. It is a short list, so most of this page is given over to something more useful: a working map of where Tennessee records are, from the Tennessee State Library and Archives across the street from the museum to the Register of Deeds in each of the 95 counties.

Tennessee entered the Union on June 1, 1796, carved from North Carolina's western lands and the short-lived Southwest Territory, and that origin shapes the records. Land was granted by North Carolina until an 1806 compact let Tennessee issue its own grants, surveyed by metes and bounds rather than townships. The state never took a census of its own, the 1810 federal schedules survive only for Rutherford County and the 1820 returns only in part, and statewide death registration ran 1908-1912, lapsed for all of 1913, and resumed in 1914. Knowing those gaps in advance saves weeks.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in Tennessee

The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA), a division of the Secretary of State, occupies its new building at 1001 Rep. John Lewis Way N. in Nashville, on Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park opposite the State Museum. Admission is free; the Library, Microfilm, and Manuscripts Reading Room is open Tuesday through Saturday 8 am to 4:30 pm, and staff encourage a research appointment (615-741-2764, ask@tsla.libanswers.com) so items can be pulled in advance. Its website leads to the online catalog, archival finding aids, a Genealogy Index Search, county fact sheets, and research guides.

• Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA): TSLA's free digital repository of photographs, maps, manuscripts, early governors' papers, and, since early 2026, released state birth and death certificates.
• Tennessee Historical Society: founded in 1849, the state's oldest history organization. Its manuscript collection is housed at TSLA and its artifacts seeded the State Museum; it publishes the Tennessee Historical Quarterly (since 1942) and co-edits the online Tennessee Encyclopedia with the University of Tennessee Press, more than 2,000 entries.
• Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (121 Hodges Library): East Tennessee manuscripts, university archives, and rare books, with digital collections online. Check hours before visiting.
• County archives in the metropolitan counties, notably the Metro Archives of Nashville and Davidson County and the Shelby County Archives in Memphis, hold city vital records and court files that TSLA does not.

Vital records and the 1913 gap

Statewide birth and death registration began in 1908. The death law expired at the end of 1912 and a new one did not take effect until 1914, so 1913 is a dead year with no state death certificates at all; compliance was generally good only by 1927. TSLA holds births for 1908-1912 and 1914-1925 and deaths for 1908-1912 and 1914-1975, with new years transferred as restrictions expire (1925 births and 1975 deaths, marriages, and divorces arrived in January 2026). The Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Vital Records (710 James Robertson Parkway, Andrew Johnson Tower, Nashville) holds births from 1926 and deaths, marriages, and divorces from 1976, and any county health department can issue a registered birth or death certificate. TSLA copies cost $5 for Tennessee residents and $10 out of state, plus $5 for certification; the vital records guide spells out what to supply with a request.

• City records before 1908: Nashville births from 1881 and deaths from 1874, Knoxville both from 1881, Chattanooga births from 1879 and deaths from 1872, Memphis births from 1874 and deaths from 1848. Only early Nashville and Memphis records are indexed; the Shelby County Register of Deeds posts a Shelby death index 1848-1966 and a statewide death index 1949-2014, and Metro Archives posts Nashville births 1881-1913.
• Delayed birth certificates for 1869-1925 were filed later for legal reasons and are indexed at TSLA.
• Marriages: recorded by the County Court Clerk; bound marriage books were required from 1838, and some counties recorded earlier. A statewide index by groom's name covers July 1945 through 1975; before that you search the county. TSLA lacks Davidson County marriages for May 1941 to June 1945, which are at Metro Archives.
• Divorces: statewide index July 1945-1975 at TSLA; earlier divorces are in Chancery Court minutes (after 1834, when property was contested) or Circuit Court minutes, and from 1796 to 1850 many required an act of the General Assembly.

Land grants and the Register of Deeds

Tennessee is a state-land state surveyed by metes and bounds, which TSLA's own guide calls probably the most complex land history of any state. North Carolina opened its land office in 1777 and issued entries, warrants, and grants for Tennessee land, including military bounty warrants for Revolutionary War service (records 1783-1837), while the United States insisted on Indian treaties before land could be granted. The 1806 compact let Tennessee issue grants provided it honored every outstanding North Carolina warrant. TSLA holds the original Tennessee grants and surveys and explains the sequence in Early North Carolina / Tennessee Land Grants; the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh holds the North Carolina side of the same transactions.

Once a grant was issued, every later deed was recorded by the county Register of Deeds, an elected office in all 95 counties. Deed books through the early twentieth century are microfilmed at TSLA, which lends county reels through its microfilm ordering service, and FamilySearch has filmed most counties. Early county tax lists, also at TSLA, place a man on specific acreage years before a grant was finalized. For a current parcel, the state's property assessment map shows ownership and boundaries. Our guide to tracing a property's deed history covers the grantor-grantee method you will use at a Tennessee Register's office.

Newspapers and city directories

TSLA began microfilming Tennessee newspapers in 1957 and now holds nearly every surviving paper published in the state; its newspapers arranged by county guide lists every known title by place of publication with dates held, and the Tennessee Newspaper Project at the University of Tennessee is compiling a statewide database. Digitized Tennessee titles are free on Chronicling America, and TSLA partners with Ancestry on digitized vital records that Tennesseans can use free.

TSLA's city directory guide lists holdings by town with call numbers and years: Chattanooga from 1871-72, Clarksville from 1859-60, Jackson from 1891-92, Bristol from 1913-14, Athens from 1900, and dozens more, with italicized years on microfilm only. The guide to old city directories on this site explains how to read them.

Census, military, and statewide indexes

Tennessee has no state census, so the federal schedules carry the load, with the 1810 loss (Rutherford County only) and partial 1820 returns noted above. Two substitutes help: the 1891 Enumeration of Male Voters, indexed on Ancestry, and the 1890 Union veterans schedule. Non-population schedules include 1850 mortality, 1860 slave schedules, 1870 agriculture and social statistics, and 1880 mortality and industrial returns.

• Confederate pensions: Tennessee created its Board of Pension Examiners in 1891; widows' pensions began in 1905, and the board kept separate soldiers', widows', and Colored soldiers' rolls. Applications give birthplace, unit, battles, wounds, children, and property, and widows' files often include the marriage license. The index is on TSLA's Genealogy Index Search, and images are on FamilySearch.
• Civil War Veterans' Questionnaires: 1,650 forms returned by Union and Confederate veterans between 1914 and 1922 describing pre-war family life, property, and service; on TSLA microfilm #484 and described in its guide.
• Revolutionary War: TSLA's Patriot Paths project maps veterans who settled in Tennessee; the 1835 Pension Roll and Armstrong's Twenty-Four Hundred Tennessee Pensioners are the printed starting points.
• Tennessee Military Discharge Records, 1861-1967, are indexed with images on FamilySearch.
• Burials: the Tennessee Historical Commission runs a Historic Cemetery Preservation Program; see our guide to finding where someone is buried.

Researching a house or building in Tennessee

The Tennessee Historical Commission is the State Historic Preservation Office, at 2941 Lebanon Pike, Nashville (615-532-1550, Ask.THC@tn.gov), with weekday hours of 8 am to 4:30 pm. Established in 1919, it administers the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee, with more than 2,000 entries and at least one in every county, plus the federal historic tax credit, Section 106 review, a statewide survey of historic resources, and the Historical Markers Program. Its FAQ pages explain what listing means for an owner, and a Technical Preservation Team (THC.Rehab@tn.gov) answers questions about work on listed buildings.

• Build the chain of title at the Register of Deeds, then check county tax lists and the TSLA county fact sheet for your county's courthouse-fire history before assuming a record is missing.
• Use the Historical Commission's survey files and National Register nominations for neighboring properties; a district nomination often dates every house on the block. Our guides to dating a house and researching an old building show how to combine them with newspapers and directories.
• The Commission website also lists state-owned historic sites and the Tennessee Wars Commission's battlefield programs.

Working with Tennessee's county historians and archives

Tennessee's best local-history infrastructure is at the county level. TSLA publishes a list of county historians and a genealogical fact sheet for each of the 95 counties, and its Tennessee Archives Institute trains the staff of county archives, several of which (Shelby, Davidson, Knox) hold records that never came to Nashville. For a county you cannot visit, order the deed, will, or court-minute microfilm reel through TSLA's interlibrary loan program and read it at your own library. Historical societies in Tennessee are mostly county-based; the Tennessee Historical Society's website is the quickest way to find the one for your area.

Additional Tennessee History Resources

• Tennessee State Library and Archives - State archives in Nashville: county microfilm, vital records, land grants, newspapers, Genealogy Index Search
• Vital Records at the Library and Archives - Which Tennessee birth, death, marriage, and divorce years TSLA holds and how to request them
• Order Records from TSLA - Fees and forms for copies of vital, military, land, and county records
• Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) - Free digitized photographs, maps, manuscripts, and released birth and death certificates
• Tennessee Historical Commission (SHPO) - National Register, historical markers, cemetery preservation, and survey programs
• Early North Carolina / Tennessee Land Grants - TSLA guide to the grant process and records from 1777 onward
• Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications - Guide and index to soldiers' and widows' pension files, 1891 onward
• Tennessee Newspapers Arranged by County - Every known Tennessee newspaper with TSLA microfilm holdings
• Tennessee Historical Society - Founded 1849; Tennessee Historical Quarterly and the online Tennessee Encyclopedia
• FamilySearch Wiki: Tennessee Vital Records - Registration dates, restrictions, and online index coverage

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I find a 1913 Tennessee death certificate?

Because none were filed. Tennessee's first death registration law covered 1908-1912 and expired; the replacement law took effect in 1914, so no agency recorded deaths statewide in 1913. Check city records (Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga), Davidson County's own 1900-1913 death register, newspapers, and cemetery records instead.

Where are Tennessee marriage records before 1945?

In the county, recorded by the County Court Clerk in marriage books required from 1838 (some counties kept them earlier). There is no statewide index for 1861 to June 1945; TSLA holds microfilm of the county books and will search five years for a fee. From July 1945 through 1975 a statewide index arranged by groom's name exists at TSLA, and from 1976 the Office of Vital Records holds the records.

What is a North Carolina land grant and where do I find it?

Before 1806 Tennessee land was granted by North Carolina, which opened its land office in 1777 and issued military bounty warrants to Revolutionary War veterans. The Tennessee State Library and Archives holds the Tennessee grants and surveys and publishes a guide to the whole process; the North Carolina State Archives holds the North Carolina entries and warrants. Later deeds are at the county Register of Deeds.

Are Tennessee Confederate pension applications online?

Yes. TSLA's Genealogy Index Search lists every soldier and widow applicant (1891-1965) with county and file number, and FamilySearch has the indexed images. Applications include birthplace, unit, battles, wounds, children, property, and often a marriage license in a widow's file.