At 10:00 AM 9/1/01, sue hall mills wrote: >I will be going to Raleigh to the State Archives sometime in the next few >days and I need help from someone who has been there. As I will only have >a very short time I want to make the most of my time, and thought someone >on the list that has been there could help me. This is a question that's asked frequently, so I'm going to post some hints that I wrote up some time back to help another reader. Go with specific names/counties/questions to research, or specific documents to look for. They have a huge amount of information, so much that you can easily get sidetracked and overwhelmed. Do some homework before you go, so that you concentrate on materials that you can get only there, not from wherever you live. Look at the Archives web site before you go, to get an idea of what they have: http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/archives/ Take a driver's license or other photo ID. They won't let you in without it. I particularly recommend the loose estates records. These are filed by county, in alphabetical folders within the counties, and are the original documents for settlement of wills and estates. They are often fascinating, and usually aren't available in transcriptions or abstracts. It's something of a grab bag, but if you do find your ancestor's file, there is often a lot of information. Don't neglect siblings of ancestors either - sometimes the clue you need is mentioned in a sister's will, etc., not in your direct ancestor. The archives are closed on Mondays, but the state library of NC, which is in the same building, is open, and they also have lots of useful material. You can pay for photocopies from the estates papers and other printed materials by check at the end of your work day, so you don't need to take lots of change. However, if you're making copies directly from microfilm, then you'll need quarters. There's a snack bar in the basement with crackers etc. and sodas. Although there are some restaurants within walking distance, I don't like to waste valuable search time going out to eat, so I do take some cash for a quick nibble mid-day or bring a lunch with me. There are also lockers in the hall outside the archives door in which you can put your handbag, extra documents, or your own lunch packed from home. The best place to park on a week-day is the underground garage beneath the NC Historical Museum, diagonally across the street from the archives. It's pretty easy to find a spot early in the morning, and there's a lot of turnover at noon. It may be full mid-morning, however. If so, there will be signs directing you to an alternative garage several blocks away. On Saturdays you can park in a street-level lot directly across the street. And to answer one of Sue's questions, yes, I've found the staff to be VERY helpful. Elizabeth Harris NCGenWeb project: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/ Winston-Salem NC area genealogy: http://users.erols.com/fmoran/