Probably the prime search location for military records is the National Archives in Washington, D. C. Since a trip to Washington can be a "bit" of a trip for many of us, there are 11 regional branches of the Archives. Each of these branches have information pertinent to their own region. Most military records do not become public until they are 75 years old, which means we are now able to search the World War I records, the Civil War records, the Spanish-American War records, etc. but not for example World War II records.
Atlanta Federal Archives and Records Center
1557 St. Joseph Avenue
East Point, Georgia 30344
Covers: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Boston Federal Archives and Records Center
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, Massachusetts 02154
Covers: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Chicago Federal Archives and Records Center
7358 South Pulaski Road
Chicago, Illinois 60629
Covers: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Denver Federal Archives and Records Center
Building 48, Denver Federal Center
Denver, Colorado 80225
Covers: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
Fort Worth Federal Archives and Records Center
4900 Hemphill Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76115
Covers: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. There is a special section in this collection covering Indian records in case you trace your ancestry to these first Americans.
Kansas City Federal Archives and Records Center
2306 East Bannister Road
Kansas City, Missouri 64131
Covers: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
Los Angeles Federal Archives and Records Center
24000 Avila Road
Laguna Niguel, California 92677
Covers: Arizona, Southern California and Clark County, Nevada.
New York Federal Archives and Records Center
Building 22 - MOT Bayonne
Bayonne, New Jersey 07002
Covers: New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virginian Islands.
Philadelphia Federal Archives and Records Center
5000 Wissahickon Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144
Covers: Delaware, Pennsylvania, District of Colombia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
San Francisco Federal Archives and Records Center
1000 Commodore Drive
San Bruno, California 94066
Covers: Northern California, Hawaii, Nevada (except Clark County), as well as American territories in the Pacific. There's a special emphasis on American Samoa.
Seattle Federal Archives and Records Center
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98115
Covers: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Please forgive me if any of these are incorrect. The addresses come from my notes of 1981 and it is possible some of them are out of date. If you find any that are wrong I'd love it if you'd email me and let me know so I can either change or delete the entry. Thanks!
Page designed by Laurie Wright © January 1998, This site was last updated November 1998