Librarian
Online
- Historic Pittsburgh Census ProjectAllows users to search the U.S. Census Schedules for the city of Pittsburgh from the years 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 and for Allegheny City from the years 1850, 1860, and 1870.
- National Archives and Records Administration: Genealogy PageThis site contains much useful information about federal records, including the U.S. Census, and how they can be used for genealogy.
Databases
- Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new windowOffers online searching of Census materials and other genealogy resources.
- Schlow Centre Regional LibrarySchlow has a version of Ancestry.com available on terminals within the library.
Microfilm and Soundex (Census Indexes)
The library has microfilm versions of the original manuscript returns for the Federal Population Censuses for Pennsylvania, 1800-1930.
- Census: Microfilm Collections & ServicesFor more information on Penn State's Census holdings, including the Agriculture and Manufacturing Census returns.
Much of the 1890 Census was destroyed by fire. A partial substitute for Centre County is:
- 1890 Directory of the Population of Centre CountyListing of people and businesses in Centre County PA [Eleventh census of the population of the United States published by boroughs and townships, in connection with a business directory of the same, for advertising purposes, with the addition of marginal blanks and sufficient blank pages to record changes of residence, births, and deaths in the different enumerated districts]
The 1880-1920 Censuses on microfilm are indexed using the Soundex system. Soundex arranges last names based on how a name sounds rather than how it is spelled. Surnames that sound the same, but are spelled differently, like SMITH and SMYTH, have the same Soundex code and are filed together. The Soundex coding system was developed so that you can find a surname that may have been recorded under various spellings.
- Soundex ConverterUse to convert your name to the correct Soundex code.