Genealogy & Local History

Research Assistance

For researchers working on Lake County ancestry and history, library staff or library volunteers perform brief free searches in the microfilmed newspapers and scan articles if you have a specific date. 

Scans can be emailed to patrons and paper copies can be mailed.

Lake County Collection

The Lake County Library's Lake County Collection contains books and other materials about Lake County history, genealogy, and other topics. Also in the collection, are yearbooks from some Lake County schools and local phone books from 1947 to the present. Browse Lake County titles in the catalog.

Newspapers on Microfilm: 1862 to Current

The Lake County Library's collection of local newspapers on microfilm covers much of Lake County's history. Births, marriages, and deaths are partially indexed from 1863 to 1949. The Lake County Genealogical Society continues to extract names for indexing.

The Mauldin Notes

The Mauldin Notes are 10,000 pages of Lake County historical information with an index and are housed at the Lakeport and Clearlake libraries, and at the Lake County Museums. The museum has digitized the Mauldin Notes.

Lake County Directories

A few directories for Lake County were published and the Lake County Library does not have copies. The California State Library has some Lake County directories on microfilm in the California History Room.

Lake County Formed in 1861

Most of what is now Lake County was separated from Napa County in 1861. Small pieces of Lake County were once in Mendocino County. Pre-separation records are in Napa County or Mendocino County.  

Contact each organization directly for more information.

The California County Map (PDF) shows the following counties that adjoin Lake County: Sonoma, Mendocino, Glenn, Colusa, Yolo, and Napa. Lake County's boundaries have shifted slightly over time.