Charleston County Public Library

The Charleston County Public Library is an especially rich resource for South Carolina history and genealogy research. The Charleston County Public Library holds a large number of books, maps, manuscripts, and images covering a wide variety of local history and genealogical topics.

These resources are divided into two separate departments:

The South Carolina Room houses a non-circulating collection of books, maps, microfilm, and other research materials.

The Special Collections department houses unique manuscripts and images, as well as rare books and other print materials.

Research: The Inside Scoop:

The South Carolina Room has microfiche and microfilm copies of some of the records at the South Carolina Historical Society and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Their evening hours make it easy to keep your research momentum. Head over there when the other archives close to add a few more quality hours to your research trip!

More Information

About

Catalog

Hours and Location

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Parking:

There is ample, affordable parking available in the parking garage directly beneath the library building.

Blogs:

South Carolina Room Blog

The Charleston History Advocate: Charleston Archive Blog

Notable Collections

Church Records – Click to Expand

Church records are among the most valuable for learning more about enslaved and free ancestors in the Lowcountry. Birth and Death certificates were not required statewide in South Carolina until 1915. Before 1915, records of enslaved and free African Americans were kept in church parish registers, which generally listed births, deaths, baptisms, marriages and confirmations.

The South Carolina Room holds early church records for records for 49 churches on microfiche. A finding aid is available onsite with a list of surviving records for each of those churches. Also included in the abstracts are the names of the slaveholding families who were members of those churches. Churches included in this collection are:

All Saints Episcopal Church, Hampton
All Saints Episcopal Church, Waccamaw
Bethany Cemetery, Charleston
Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Charleston
Chapel of the Holy Cross Episcopal, Sullivan’s Island
Christ Episcopal Church, Mt. Pleasant
Christ Episcopal Church, Wilton, Adams Run
Church of the Holy Cross Episcopal, Statesburg
Church of the Messiah Episcopal, Georgetown County
Church of the Redeemer Episcopal, Orangeburg
Convocation of Charleston
Cumberland St. Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston
Epiphany Episcopal Church, Eutawville
First Scots Presbyterian Church, Charleston
First United Methodist Church, Marion
Georgetown Methodist Church
Grace Episcopal Church, Charleston
Holy Communion Episcopal Church
Independent Congregational Church, Dorchester
Mariner’s Church, Charleston
Prince Frederick Winyah Episcopal Church, Georgetown County
Prince George Episcopal Church, Georgetown County
Prince William Episcopal Parish Church, McPhersonville
Protestant Episcopal Church, Diocese of South Carolina
St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Charleston
St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Mt. Pleasant
St. Bartholomews Episcopal Church, Colleton County
St. Helena Episcopal Church, Beaufort
St. James Episcopal Church, James Island
St. James Santee Episcopal Church, McClellanville
St. James United Methodist Church, Charleston
St. Johns Berkeley Parish
St. Johns Episcopal Church, Johns Island
St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, Walterboro
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Johns Island
St. Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Darlington
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Fort Motte
St. Matthew’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Darlington
St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Charleston
St. Paul’s Stono Episcopal Church, Charleston
St. Peters By-the-Sea Episcopal Church
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Bradford Springs
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Charleston
St. Stephens Episcopal Chapel, Charleston
St. Stephens and St. Johns Parishes, Berkeley County
St. Thomas and St. Denis Protestant Episcopal Church
Trinity Methodist Church, Charleston
Unitarian Church, Charleston
Works Progress Administration (WPA), SC Historical Records Survey

Wills and Probate Records - Click to Expand

Transcripts of Charleston County Wills, Estate Inventories and Miscellaneous Records Prior to 1869: 100 volumes, about half are in print and half on microfilm. Three index volumes. Records span the years 1671-1868.

Records of Free African Americans - Click to Expand

The South Carolina Room holds print and microfilm resources for documenting African American ancestors who were free before the Civil War. Among these are:

State Free Negro Capitation Tax, Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1811-1860: 2 microfilm reels, finding aid available onsite.
Charleston Capitation Books – Free People of Color, 1852-1864: These supplement the State Free Negro Capitation Tax records, they were likely compiled by the city of Charleston rather than the state of South Carolina. Available on microfilm, finding aid available onsite.

Early South Carolina Newspapers - Click to Expand

Historical newspapers are available on microfilm. Among the holdings are:

Charleston Mercury, 1822-1868
Charleston Times, 1800-1821
South Carolina Gazette, 1732-1786

Print volumes of the index Early South Carolina Newspapers Database Reports (ESCN Database Reports) are available in the South Carolina Room, call number 071.57. These volumes contain a surname and subject index for local news and advertisements in the South Carolina Gazette for years 1732-1780. You can consult this index to determine which volumes of the South Carolina Gazette you wish to view on microfilm.

Freedmen's Bureau Records – Click to Expand

Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (commonly referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau) are available on microfilm. Among the extensive holdings are:

Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of South Carolina Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870 (NARA Micropublication M869), 44 microfilm reels. Reel Guide available on Lowcountry Africana
Records of the Field Offices for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (NARA Micropublication M1910), 106 microfilm reels. Reel Guide available on Lowcountry Africana
Records of the Education Division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1871. Roll 35, South Carolina (NARA Micropublication 803), 1 microfilm reel
Marriage records of the Office of the Commissioner, Washington Headquarters of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861-1869

U.S.C.T. Records – Click to Expand

Compiled Military Service Records, Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the U.S. Colored Troops: Records for the 1st U.S. Colored Infantry, the 1st S.C. Volunteers (colored) and Company A, 1st U.S. Colored Infantry, available on microfilm. A finding aid for this collection is available online at Fold3.com. View complete Civil War Resource Guide prepared by CCPL

State Census Records – Click to Expand

The 1869 South Carolina State Census is available on microfilm in the South Carolina Room. View complete Census Records Resource Guide

Charleston County Marriage Records – Click to Expand

The South Carolina Room holds microfilm of some Charleston County marriage records (finding aid available onsite). The full collection resides on microfilm at the Charleston County Probate Court, where you may view and print individual records. A searchable name index is online on the Charleston County Probate Court website. Many of the records are available on microfilm in the South Carolina Room. Records from 1897-1906 are missing and are not included.

Return of Deaths within the City of Charleston, 1819–1926 – Click to Expand

Original records are in the Charleston Archive at CCPL, finding aid available online, bound volumes of transcriptions available in the South Carolina Room at CCPL, call no. 975.7915 CITY. Microfilm of the original records is also available in the South Carolina Room.

Notable Collections: Charleston Archive at CCPL

Return of Births in the City of Charleston, 1877-1926 – Click to Expand

23 handwritten ledgers are available in the Charleston Archive at CCPL and on microfilm in South Carolina Room. These records are especially useful because they not only list the birthplace of the child, but that and each of the parents. They often list the mother’s maiden name as well. A finding aid is available online.

The City of Charleston Voter Records of 1877 – Click to Expand

This volume contains a compiled alphabetical index of the names and address of 7,189 of the 9,586 men who registered to vote in a municipal election in Charleston, South Carolina, in November 1877. The names included here represent the full spectrum of the city’s male population at that time, including African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, and Hispanics, from the wealthiest to the poorest citizens.

Charleston Archive staff member Celeste Wiley spent many months transcribing the names, addresses, and other data from these 1877 records, and CCPL has made them available in two forms. The South Carolina Room holds a print copy of her work, which includes an introduction, illustrations, and appendices. A bound copy is available in the South Carolina Room under the title “The City of Charleston Voter Records of 1877: An Index of Names Transcribed from the Records of the Commissioners of Elections,” call number 929.39757915 WILEY. Second, a PDF version of this transcription is available for download on the Charleston History Advocate blog

Records of the Commissioners of the Alms House (Poor House), 1800–1923 – Click to Expand

This collection contains the records of the Commissioners of the Alms House (also known as the Poor House), 1800–1923. The collection is remarkable for the long period of time it spans.

The records consist of Journals, Records and Minutes (1800–1917); Register of Transient and City Poor (1803–1916, incomplete); Letter Books (1822–1876); Ledgers (1827–1910, incomplete); Indentures (1832–1859); Ration Book (1835–1846); Hospital Register (1841–1856); Day Books (1845–1863, incomplete); Physician’s Register of the Cell Department (1848–1849, incomplete); Registry of Deaths (1852–1877); Register of Out-Door Pensioners of the Upper Wards (1852–1865); Register of the Out-Door Pensioners of the Lower Wards (1852–1861); Register of Outdoor Pensioners and Index (1897–1913); Rough Minutes (1872–1911, incomplete); Miscellaneous Loose Materials (1876–1923, incomplete). A finding aid is available online.

Records of the Executive Relief Committee for the Earthquake of 1886 – Click to Expand

The Records of the Executive Relief Committee (ERC), consist of correspondence,
financial records, repair vouchers, reports, and other materials pertaining to the City of
Charleston’s relief efforts in the wake of an earthquake that struck the city on 31 August 1886. Repair vouchers have been arranged in sequential order and indexed by the recipients’ surnames and street addresses. A finding aid is available online.