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Free Louisiana genealogy records
Where to find free birth, death, marriage, census, probate, land and newspaper records for Louisiana, and which offices hold what. Last checked Oct 2026.
Check before relying on these:
- Start of statewide registration: CDC gives no year. Published sources say 1914, and one chart says 1911.
Birth, death and marriage records
When statewide registration began: Statewide registration is usually dated to 1914 (births from July 1914). New Orleans kept records much earlier.
- Births are confidential for 100 years and deaths for 50 years. After that they move to the Louisiana State Archives.
- Marriages: the clerk of court in the parish that issued the license. The state keeps Orleans Parish marriages only.
Current office addresses, fees and eligibility rules are on the CDC "Where to Write for Vital Records" page for Louisiana. Records that are too recent are usually restricted to close family. Older ones are often free to view as indexes or images on the free databases below.
Before statewide registration, look to Catholic and other church registers and to parish (county-level) courts.
Census records
- Federal censuses from 1790 to 1950 are free to search on several sites. The 1950 census is free from the National Archives' 1950 Census site, and NARA's census research pages explain each year.
- Almost all of the 1890 federal census was destroyed after a 1921 fire, so families can "disappear" between 1880 and 1900.
- Ask the state archives whether any state or territorial census schedules survive for Louisiana.
- Census records only exist for years after statehood or territorial organization.
Probate and land records
- Probate: Parish district courts handle estates, which Louisiana calls "successions". The parish clerk of court holds deeds and notarial records. Older probate files are often transferred to the state archives.
- First land transfers: Louisiana is a federal public-land state. The original federal land patents (homesteads, cash sales, military warrants) are free to search on the BLM General Land Office Records site. Homestead case files themselves are at the National Archives.
- Later deeds: once land was in private hands, every sale was recorded locally by the parish clerk of court.
Historic newspapers
- Chronicling America: Louisiana newspapers is the Library of Congress's free archive of digitized historic newspapers, filtered to this state.
- Louisiana State University is Louisiana's partner in the National Digital Newspaper Program, which digitizes the state's papers for Chronicling America.
- Obituaries are the best newspaper find for genealogy. If your family's paper isn't digitized, the local public library or historical society may have it on microfilm.
Archives, libraries and societies
- Louisiana State Archives: the state's official archives, with older government records such as court, land, military and often vital records.
- The Historic New Orleans Collection: historical society or research library with manuscripts, photographs and local histories.
Tips for the local level
- Search by parish; the parish clerk of court holds marriages, successions, deeds and notarial records.
- Call or email before visiting. Many courthouses have moved older books to the state archives or a county records center.
- Look for the local genealogical society and the county page of the free, volunteer-run USGenWeb Project, which often have transcriptions and cemetery lists.
- Louisiana has parishes, not counties. Its civil-law system means many family transactions (sales, marriage contracts) are in notarial records rather than court files.
Big free (and freemium) databases
- FamilySearch Research Wiki: Louisiana: a free, volunteer-edited guide to Louisiana record types, useful for double-checking anything on this page.
- FamilySearch: a free nonprofit genealogy site with indexed records and digitized microfilm. You need a free account to search.
- Find a Grave: free, volunteer-built cemetery listings, often with headstone photos.
- BillionGraves: free headstone photos tagged with GPS locations.
- National Archives genealogy pages: guides to federal census, military, immigration and land records.
- Ancestry: a large subscription site. Some indexes are free with a free account, and many public libraries offer free in-library access.
Sources
- CDC/NCHS, Where to Write for Vital Records: Louisiana
- Family Tree Magazine, "US Statewide Vital Records" chart (2018)
- National Archives, State Archives list
- Library of Congress, National Digital Newspaper Program awardees
- Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records
- National Archives, Census Records
Last checked Oct 2026. Offices, fees and web addresses change. If something here is wrong, the official office is always right.
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