Genealogy and Local History Resources Available at the St. Mary’s County Library
- A number of online resources, including Ancestry.com (available only in Library buildings) and HeritageQuest Online. Newspaper Archive contains millions of newspaper pages from around the world from 1753 to present.
See our Genealogy and Local History Online Resources page for more information. - St. Mary’s County Genealogical Society Collection in the Maryland Room at Leonardtown Library
- Local family histories, county and Maryland history, Census, cemetery records, marriage licenses, and county and Maryland death records.
- These reference materials cannot be checked out, but can be used within the library.
- St. Mary’s County Newspaper Archive
- Searchable database of:
- The Beacon: 1923-1984, with gaps
- The Enterprise: 1952-April 2020, with gaps
- Southern Maryland News: August 2020-approximately six months ago
- The Tester: 1948-1962
- Naval Air Test Center and NAS Patuxent River command histories through 1952
- The Beacon, 1852-1921, is available online (with gaps) from the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website
- Because the paper operated under different names, there are three newspapers available on the site: Saint Mary’s beacon, St. Mary’s beacon, and St. Mary’s gazette. Use the Chronicling America: Maryland Newspapers page to access the collection.
- Searchable database of:
- County newspapers on microfilm at the Lexington Park Library
- The Beacon: 1852-1984, with gaps
- The Enterprise: 1952-2020
- SOMD News: 2020-present
- For information about accessing the microfilm, please call the Information Desk at 301-863-8188 or send questions to lexi.ref@stmalib.org.
- Maryland collection at all three libraries
- Includes various print resources, including Maryland and St. Mary’s County history books and genealogical resources.
Genealogy Research Requests
Not in St. Mary’s County or need additional help finding information? A librarian will research requests for ancestors within the state of Maryland using the Library’s available resources. These resources include our Genealogy and Maryland collections, our newspaper database, and other local resources. You may request information about one ancestor per submission and you may submit no more than two research requests per month. Submit your genealogy research request.
Local History Resources Available Elsewhere
- The St. Mary’s County Times maintains it own digital archive of past editions that provides “an accurate rendition of the hardcopy in its entirety for historical preservation.”
- Obituaries from St. Mary’s County Newspapers and Other Sources
- Obituaries and Service Information from SOMD.com
- St. Mary’s County Historical Society has approximately 40,000 obituaries scanned from St. Mary’s County newspapers, as well as other sources. Available online for Historical Society members.
- Maryland Historic Trust Inventory of Historic Properties in St. Mary’s County
- Southern Maryland Studies Center at CSM
- Located in LaPlata, the SMSC is a central location for research on this historically important region. Students, historians, genealogists, and community members use SMSC’s resources to study the culture and development of Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s, and southern areas of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties.
- St. Mary’s College of Maryland Archives
- The SMCM archives provide for the acquisition, organization, description, preservation, and availability of unique materials documenting the history of the school as well as the history of Southern Maryland, particularly St. Mary’s County.
- St. Mary’s County Genealogical Society
- St. Mary’s County Historic Preservation Commission
- St. Mary’s County Cemetery Project
- Cemetery Database – Updated October 2020
- Cemetery Database Footnotes
- To contribute information to the database, pick up a form at the library.
- St. Mary’s County Historical Society
- Located at Tudor Hall in Leonardtown.
- The Research Center is open Thurs-Fri, 11am-4pm, and the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, 10am-4pm. Closed from mid-December through January.
- Reach the Business Office by phone at 301-475-2467.
- Family Files Index – An alphabetical list of all the family files in the SMCHS Research Center, updated October 2021