Keith, Which state are you referring to here? Each state has a depository / archives where data is also kept. Illinois IRAD for instance has four of them depending on which section of the state your researching. Most records are kept at the county level, again time frame plays a big factor there. The National Archives aka NARA has military, census, emigration records there. Addie At 04:22 AM 8/27/98 EDT, DerrU@aol.com wrote: >Keith, as far as I know, birth, marriage and death records are kept at the >court house in the county in which they occur. I don't believe there is any >national archive for these records. US census records are held, I believe, by >the US census bureau, and states that did additional census records are held >by that state. If anyone knows differently, feel free to correct me on this. > >Sue > >