Useful Links for Genealogy
-->Norway Online Genealogy Records<--
Family Tree Magazine 101 Best Genealogy Websites of 2023
Emigration and Immigration
Genealogy
Cemeteries and Graves

Norway Emigration and Immigration

<Familysearch.org Emigration and Immigration>

Norwegian emigration records can be a useful source of genealogical information. Usually found as passenger lists but also some records of passports issued. The information in these records includes the emigrants' names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces.

Search Ellis Island Passenger Records

<https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger>

Free Ellis Island Passenger Search database, home to 65 million records of passengers arriving to the Port of New York from 1820 to 1957.

US Immigration Passenger Arrival Records

<Familysearch.org US Immigration Records>

Links to US Immigration Passenger Arrival Records

One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse

<stevemorse.org>

This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Some of these tools fetch data from other websites but do so in more versatile ways than the search tools provided on those websites.

 

Find a Grave in Norway

<nettgrav.no/finn-en-grav>

Search by name -> Find a grave

Find Deaths and Obituaries in Norway

<vareminnesider.no/#>

Search for name, place or year. This portal shows both our own and national deaths. Deaths are only shown when they are published by the next of kin in a newspaper, on the memorial page or directly in this portal. Here you will find an overview of all deaths that our funeral home handles, as soon as the death has been published by the family. The link to each death includes the option to view the obituary and order flowers for the ceremony or condolence flowers delivered to a private address.

Norway Grave Memorials

<slektogdata.no/gravminner>

Find the grave of a relative or friend. Get information about date of birth and death, where they are buried and see a picture of the gravestone.

Find a Grave

<www.findagrave.com>

Volunteers here have transcribed more than 225 million gravesites since 1995, covering the United States as well as many other countries. Most include photos and many have additional genealogical notes.

BillionGraves

<www.billiongraves.com>

The world’s largest resource for searchable GPS cemetery data invites you to help reach its 10-figure goal. Basic searching of cemetery data and photos is free, or upgrade to a “Plus” account for $59.99 per year.

Interment.net

<www.interment.net>

With “only” 25 million-plus cemetery records, transcripts and burial registers, it’s easy to overlook this long-time collection. But its less-familiar sources—records from fraternal groups, historical societies and governments—that supplement volunteer transcriptions make it a must-check.

American Battle Monuments Commission

<www.abmc.gov>

In addition to searching the overseas burial sites and memorials for more than 200,000 Americans who died in the World Wars, you can explore their stories through videos, photos and interactive experiences.

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

<gravelocator.cem.va.gov>

Not finding your veteran in the American Battle Monuments Commission database? Search closer to home in this U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs collection of burials in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans’ cemeteries, or other US locations—updated daily.

 

US State Websites
Maps & Photos
Miscellaneous

ALABAMA

Alabama Department of Archives & History

<digital.archives.alabama.gov>

AlabamaMosaic

<www.alabamamosaic.org>

ALASKA

Alaska State Archives: Genealogy

<archives.alaska.gov/genealogy/genealogy.html>

AMERICAN SAMOA

American Samoa Genealogy

<americansamoagenealogy.atwebpages.com>

ARIZONA

Arizona Memory Project

<azmemory.azlibrary.gov>

ARKANSAS

Arkansas Digital Archives

<digitalheritage.arkansas.gov>

CALIFORNIA

Calisphere

<calisphere.org>

Online Archive of California

<www.oac.cdlib.org>

COLORADO

Denver Public Library Digital Collections

<digital.denverlibrary.org>

CONNECTICUT

Connecticut Digital Archive

<collections.ctdigitalarchive.org>

CT State Library

<cslib.contentdm.oclc.org>

DELAWARE

Delaware Public Archives

<archives.delaware.gov>

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DigDC

<digdc.dclibrary.org>

FLORIDA

University of Florida Digital Collections

<ufdc.ufl.edu>

GEORGIA

Digital Library of Georgia

<dlg.usg.edu>

Georgia Archives

<www.georgiaarchives.org>

GUAM

Guam Genealogy

<guamgenealogy.atwebpages.com>

HAWAI’I

Hawai’i State Archives

<ags.hawaii.gov/archives>

IDAHO

Idaho State Historical Society

<history.idaho.gov/searchable-indexes>

ILLINOIS

Illinois Digital Archives

<www.idaillinois.org>

Illinois State Archives Databases

<www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/databases/home.html>

INDIANA

Indiana State Library: Genealogy Collection

<www.in.gov/library/collections-and-services/genealogy>

IOWA

Iowa Digital Library

<digital.lib.uiowa.edu>

The Iowa Heritage Digital Collections

<www.iowaheritage.org>

KANSAS

Kansas Memory

<www.kansasmemory.org>

KENTUCKY

Kentucky Digital Library

<kdl.kyvl.org/digital>

LOUISIANA

Louisiana Digital Library

<www.louisianadigitallibrary.org>

MAINE

DigitalMaine Repository

<www.digitalmaine.com>

Maine Genealogy

<www.mainegenealogy.net>

Maine Memory Network

<www.mainememory.net>

MARYLAND

Digital Maryland

<www.digitalmaryland.org>

Maryland State Archives

<msa.maryland.gov>

MASSACHUSETTS

Digital Commonwealth

<www.digitalcommonwealth.org>

MICHIGAN

Michigan County Histories and Atlases

<quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty>

Michiganology

<michiganology.org>

MINNESOTA

Online Genealogy Records

<www.familysearch.org>

Minnesota Official Marriage System

<moms.mn.gov>

Minnesota Historical Society People Search

<www.mnhs.org/search/people>

Use Minnesota People Records Search to exclusively research birth, death, and state census records, as well as Veterans Graves Registration and World War I Gold Star Rolls.

Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub

<www.mnhs.org/newspapers/hub>

The Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub is a searchable website from the Minnesota Historical Society that makes millions of pages of Minnesota newspapers available online.

Minnesota Genealogy Web

<www.mngenweb.net>

Minnesota Digital Library

<www.mndigital.org>

Cyndi's List - Minnesota Genealogy

<www.cyndislist.com>

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi Digital Library

<www.msdiglib.org>

MISSOURI

Missouri Digital Heritage

<www.sos.mo.gov/mdh>

The State Historical Society of Missouri Digital Collections

<digital.shsmo.org>

MONTANA

Montana Historical Society

<mhs.mt.gov/research/onlinecollections>

NEBRASKA

History Nebraska

<history.nebraska.gov/collection_section/research-resources-databases>

NEVADA

Nevada Library Cooperative

<nvlibrarycoop.contentdm.oclc.org>

NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshire Genealogy & History

<www.nh.searchroots.com>

NEW JERSEY

New Jersey State Archives

<www.nj.gov/state/archives>

NEW MEXICO

New Mexico Digital Collections

<econtent.unm.edu>

NEW YORK

New York Heritage Digital Collections

<www.nyheritage.org>

The NYC Historical Vital Records Project

<a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov>

NORTH CAROLINA

Digital Library on American Slavery

<dlas.uncg.edu>

DigitalNC

<www.digitalnc.org>

North Carolina Digital Collections

<digital.ncdcr.gov>

University of North Carolina: The Southern Historical Collection

<dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/archivalhome/collection/00ddd>

NORTH DAKOTA

Digital Horizons

<digitalhorizonsonline.org>

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

Northern Mariana Islands Genealogy

<northernmarianaislandsgenealogy.atwebpages.com>

OHIO

Ohio Memory

<www.ohiomemory.org>

OKLAHOMA

Digital Prairie

<www.digitalprairieok.net>

The Gateway to Oklahoma History

<gateway.okhistory.org>

OREGON

Oregon Digital

<www.oregondigital.org>

Oregon Historical Society Digital Collections

<digitalcollections.ohs.org>

PENNSYLVANIA

State Library of Pennsylvania

<www.statelibrary.pa.gov/generalpublic/collections>

PUERTO RICO

Puerto Rico en Breve

<geneal.preb.com>

RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries

<www.rihistoriccemeteries.org>

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina Department of Archives and History

<www.archivesindex.sc.gov>

The South Carolina Digital Library

<www.scmemory.org>

SOUTH DAKOTA

Online Genealogy Records

<www.familysearch.org>

South Dakota Genealogy Web

<www.sdgenweb.com>

Digital Library of South Dakota

<explore.digitalsd.org>

TENNESSEE

Tennessee Virtual Archive

<teva.contentdm.oclc.org>

TEXAS

The Portal to Texas History

<texashistory.unt.edu>

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Caribbean Genealogy Library

<cgl.vi>

UTAH

Utah State Archives Name Indexes

<archives.utah.gov/research/indexes>

Utah State Cemeteries and Burials Database

<history.utah.gov/cemeteries>

VERMONT

Vermont History

<www.vermonthistory.org/digital-resources>

VIRGINIA

Library of Virginia

<lva.virginia.gov>

WASHINGTON

Washington Rural Heritage

<www.washingtonruralheritage.org>

WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia Archives and History

<www.wvculture.org/history/archivesindex.aspx>

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Historical Society

<www.wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy>

WYOMING

Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection

<www.wyomingnewspapers.org>

 

US and Canadian Genealogy Websites
Military Websites
Historical Newspaper Websites

$ American Ancestors

<www.americanancestors.org>

This subscription site ($99.95 per year) from the New England Historic Genealogical Society remains the go-to destination for regional research. Its more than 1.4 billion records also extend beyond New England, including the largest searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines.

* Congregational Library & Archives

<www.congregationallibrary.org/nehh/main>

This new-in-2022 online digital collection features tens of thousands of church birth, death and marriage records from New England, mostly spanning 1634 to about 1850.

Ellis Island Passenger Search

<heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger>

Find your immigrant ancestor among the 65 million records of arrivals through the Port of New York searchable here.

Genealogy Trails

<www.genealogytrails.com>

Launched in 2000 to transcribe Illinois records, this volunteer site has grown into a nationwide transcription resource, with state sites similar to USGenWeb. Recent additions include Revolutionary War veterans’ obituaries, prisoner rolls, biographies and even chuckwagon recipes.

Library and Archives Canada

<www.bac-lac.gc.ca>

A 2022 facelift makes this website—an essential resource for all things Canadian—even easier to explore: censuses (including the newly released 1931 count), vital records, immigration and passenger records, land transactions, military service records and more.

Library of Congress

<www.loc.gov>

Explore old photos and maps (including Sanborn fire insurance maps for all 50 states plus some locations in Mexico, Canada and Cuba), music, Americana and much more.

National Archives and Records Administration

<www.archives.gov>

The “nation’s attic” now boasts a faster, completely redesigned catalog and enhanced image-viewing. Learn about the now-available 1950 census, discover old maps and historic photos, order veterans’ records, research WWII enlistments and immigrant arrivals, request Social Security records, and more. Check out our complete guide in the September/October 2022 issue <www.familytreemagazine.com/websites/archives-gov>.

* NYC Historical Vital Records Project

<a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov>

After years of severely restricting access, the New York City Municipal Archives has launched a mass-digitization project. Already more than three-quarters complete, it will include 13.3 million historical birth, death and marriage records 1900s, with coverage of all five boroughs. You can search images by name or certificate number, or browse by borough, year range, or certificate type.

$ Programme de Recherche en Démographie Historique

<www.prdh-igd.com>

Find your Quebec ancestors in this site from the Drouin Institute, featuring Catholic baptisms and burials as well as all Quebec marriages for 1621 to 1849. Viewing results starts at $19.99 for 100 hits.

USGenWeb

<www.usgenweb.org>

Established in 1996 as a free directory for text-based genealogy resources, this volunteer site has grown into a network of over 3,000 linked state and county websites. You’ll find photos, maps, transcriptions, historical documents and helpful links, plus census and cemetery projects. Use the drop-down at top-right to visit the website of each state’s affiliate project.

Western States Marriage Record Index

<abish.byui.edu/specialcollections/western-states/search.cfm>

BYU—Idaho has been indexing marriage records from 12 western states for nearly three decades. The result of those labors now totals more than 913,000 searchable records. Researchers with happy couples in Arizona, Idaho and Nevada should especially take note.

 

American Battle Monuments Commission

<www.abmc.gov>

In addition to searching the overseas burial sites and memorials for more than 200,000 Americans who died in the World Wars, you can explore their stories through videos, photos and interactive experiences.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

<www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm>

Start your research for Civil War ancestors in this database of 6.2 million soldiers, Union and Confederate, from 44 states and territories. More than 4,000 linked unit histories record what they went through in America’s deadliest conflict.

Daughters of the American Revolution

<www.dar.org>

The DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) <www.dar.org/national-society/genealogy/using-genealogical-research-system-grs> includes free online databases containing information on Revolutionary patriot ancestors and descendants of those patriots, as well as an array of genealogical resources from the DAR Library.

$ Fold3

<www.fold3.com>

From the Revolutionary War to Vietnam, this Ancestry.com-owned subscription site ($79.95 per year) has everything military. Despite its US-flag-inspired name, you’ll also find military records from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database

<www.nps.gov/paal/learn/historyculture/search-usmexwar.htm>

The smaller (but essential) sibling of the Park Service’s Civil War database covers this earlier war, with a searchable database of more than 89,000 US and Mexican troops.

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

<gravelocator.cem.va.gov>

Not finding your veteran in the American Battle Monuments Commission database? Search closer to home in this U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs collection of burials in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans’ cemeteries, or other US locations—updated daily.

 

Chronicling America

<chroniclingamerica.loc.gov>

The Library of Congress has been relentlessly digitizing US newspapers at this free site, now totaling more than 20 million pages dating from 1770 to 1963. Don’t miss the companion Newspaper Navigator <news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search>, where you can search more than 1.5 million newspaper photos.

Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub

<www.mnhs.org/newspapers/hub>

The Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub is a searchable website from the Minnesota Historical Society that makes millions of pages of Minnesota newspapers available online.

$ The British Newspaper Archive

<www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk>

Search or browse more than 66 million pages from British publications from the 1700s onward. Subscriptions run about $107 annually or $16 per month.

* Fulton History

<fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html>

Started by Thomas Tryniski in 1999 as a project to digitize his local newspaper, Fulton History (named for his original site of old Fulton, N.Y., postcards) has grown to more than 47 million pages from more than 1,000 titles. New York remains best-represented, but Tryniski has titles from most states—and accessing them is free.

$ GenealogyBank

<www.genealogybank.com>

A subscription ($99.90 annually) unlocks more than 15,000 digitized newspaper titles—many not available elsewhere—plus 260 million obituaries, along with censuses, historical books and government documents.

* $ NewspaperArchive

<www.newspaperarchive.com>

In the newspaper-digitizing business since 1999, this subscription site ($139.99 per year) boasts nearly 10 billion searchable names in 16,000 titles and 280 million pages dating from 1607 to the present.

$ Newspapers.com

<www.newspapers.com>

This Ancestry.com subscription offering ($44.95 for six months) now offers 816 million pages from 25,500 titles, 1690 to today. To access them all, you’ll need the Publishers Extra subscription option ($74.90 for six months), which adds titles—many of them, more-recent—licensed from publishers.

 

Maps
Norway Farm Books (Bygdebøker)
Education and Training

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

<digital.newberry.org/ahcb>

Follow your ancestors’ county records across shifting boundary lines with this essential tool from Chicago’s Newberry Library.

Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records

<www.glorecords.blm.gov>

The ultimate resource for land-records research offers images of more than 5 million federal land title records, survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records. Check out the guide in the March/April 2023 issue of Family Tree Magazine <www.familytreemagazine.com/records/land/general-land-office-tutorial>.

David Rumsey Map Collection

<www.davidrumsey.com>

A collaboration with Machines Reading Maps will make nearly half of this site’s 121,000 online historical maps text-searchable.

Gazetteer of British Place Names

<gazetteer.org.uk>

Find your British ancestors’ places with this to more than 280,000 locales. Each entry includes a place’s historic county and main administrative areas, plus notes about changing boundaries and postal codes.

Gule Sider (Yellow Pages) - Norway

< http://kart.gulesider.no/>

Search for companies, persons, addresses, and phone numbers in Norway

Historic Map Works

<www.historicmapworks.com>

Search more than 1.6 million historic maps and images (including old property maps and directories), some matchable with modern Google maps. You can order prints, and paid subscribers can upgrade their viewing tools.

* $ HistoryGeo

<www.historygeo.com>

Subscribers ($20 for three months) can search the 12.3 million property owners across 30 states in the First Landowners Project, or explore thousands of antique maps.

Meyers Gazetteer

<www.meyersgaz.org>

Searching places in the German Empire (1871 to 1918) couldn’t be simpler—no need to use diacritical marks, but try as many asterisk wildcards as you want.

Norges Kart

< https://www.norgeskart.no/>

Kartverket's most popular Norwegian map service. Here you will find property data, walking maps, sea maps, place names, emergency posters, cycle routes and paths.

Norway Maps

< https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Norway_Maps/>

Maps are an important source to locate the places where your ancestors lived. They help you see the neighboring towns and geographic features of the area your ancestor came from. Maps can help you locate places, parishes, churches, geographical features, transportation routes, and proximity to other towns.

US Geological Survey

<www.usgs.gov/products/maps/all-maps>

One click lets you explore all USGS maps, new and old. Other links here take you to the agency’s Geographic Names Information System and the National Map

Bydgebøker

<www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Norway_Farm_Books>

In addition to wonderful parish registers Norway has a very special source called bygdebøker, or farm books. They are books filled with detailed local history and tremendous genealogical information.

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 1 : Valdres, by O.T. Bjanes, 1950

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012061124039>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 1 : Eina, Kolbu, Vestre Toten, Østre Toten, by S.K. Granum, 1997

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2013011624002>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 2-3 1: Gudbrandsdalen, by O.T. Bjanes, 1953

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012073124003>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 2-3 2 : Gudbrandsdalen, by O.T. Bjanes, 1953

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012061124005>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 2 : Brandbu, Gran, Jevnaker, Lunner, by S.K. Granum, 1996

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010100503016>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 3 : Nordre Land: Nordre Land - Torpa, Søndre Land, by S.K. Granum, 1999

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018071348005>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 4-5 1 : Hadeland, Land og Toten, by O.T. Bjanes, 1957

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2016121348600>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 4-5 2 : Hadeland, Land, og Toten, by O.T. Bjanes, 1957

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012061124041>

Norske gardsbruk: Oppland fylke. 6 :Dovre, Lesja, Lom, Skjåk, Vågå, by S.K. Granum, 1998

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2010092003018>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 7 : Heidal, Nord-Fron, Sel, Sør-Fron, by S.K. Granum, 1998

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011021608072>

Norske gardsbruk: Oppland fylke. 8: Gausdal, Ringebu, Øyer, by S.K. Granum, 1996

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011082308178>

Norske gardsbruk : Oppland fylke. 9 : Gjøvik, Biri, Snertingdal, Vardal, Lillehammer - by S.K. Granum, 1999

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018071348006>

Gardar og slekter i Ringebu, by Einar Hovdhaugen, 1953

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017010548145>

Nedlagde heimar i Ringebu, by Ringebu Historielag, 1996

<urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2017032248184>

 

The Family History Guide

<https://www.thefhguide.com/>

Your free learning, research, and activities center for family history.

FamilySearch Learning Center

<www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/learning-center>

Hundreds of recorded online classes.

Rootstech Video Library

<www.familysearch.org/rootstech/library>

RootsTech is the largest genealogy event in the world, sponsored and hosted by FamilySearch. RootsTech brings people from all over the globe together for one common mission: gathering and celebrating family.

Classes at RootsTech are offered for all skill levels, beginner to expert, so you can learn more about discovering your ancestors and linking them to your family tree.

The Expo Hall, or the heartbeat of the conference, is home to many sponsors and exhibitors that offer new innovations and technology that will help connect with your past and record your memories for future generations.

A fan favorite experience at RootsTech is the keynote speakers on the main stage! Various talent from industries around the world speak on their own family experiences and share inspiring messages of hope and resiliency.

If the 3-day conference isn’t enough, check out rootstech.org all year long for past content, as well as new content to learn and be inspired anytime you want!

Genealogy for Kids: Building a Family Tree

<www.aaastateofplay.com/genealogy-for-kids-building-a-family-tree/>

Researching a family's genealogy and making a family tree is a great way for kids and adults to learn more about who they are.

It also brings history to life in a new way, making it possible to see how historical events impacted one family: the researcher's own.

Genealogy is also a great way to sharpen research skills.