All locations will be closed on Friday, February 7 for Staff Development Day. To contact Vital Statistics for birth and death certificates, please call (214) 670-3248.
Dallas/Texas History
Dallas Public Library Digital Archive
Available only in person at Dallas History & Archives, 7th Floor, J. Erik Jonsson Central Library
Books about Texas, Dallas and the people who lived there.
Dallas County Records
Dallas Public Library is the Regional Historical Resource Depository for Dallas County. Government records with permanent historical value that are no longer needed by the agency that created them may be placed on deposit in the Dallas History & Archives. Current holdings include Dallas County Civil District Court records produced before 1939, early Dallas County medical and dental registers and early Justice of the Peace inquest records. Many of these documents have been microfilmed.
Search the list of available Dallas County documents on the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's web site, Dallas County Records Available on Microfilm.
Researchers may also contact your local library's Interlibrary Loan department to make a request for scans from the film. For Interlibrary Loan requests, include as much detail as possible including reel number(s), name(s), year(s), court type or court number(s), and the type of record(s) being requested (ex. civil court, death records, naturalization papers, tax rolls etc).
Historic Texas Maps
Dallas Public Library holds approximately 5,000 maps of Dallas and Texas communities from the Spanish Colonial era to the present. Specialized holdings include Sanborn Fire Insurance and property ownership maps as well as a comprehensive collection of Dallas street maps. The most frequently requested maps have been reproduced on Mylar for patron use, and full-size copies are available for a nominal fee (minimum $19.50).
The Murphy and Bolanz Collection is available online.
Manuscripts/Archives
Political and municipal history; architecture and community planning; ethnic and racial communities; visual and performing arts; business records; and ephemera from Dallas and Texas, mid-19th century to the present.
Many of the library's collections are represented on Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) for greater findability. Visit https://txarchives.org and select “Dallas Public Library” for the repository.
Oral Histories of people who have helped shape Dallas history or been eyewitnesses to events of historical significance. Some of these recordings have been digitized and/or transcribed.
Texas Telephone, City, and Criss-Cross Directories (hard copies & microfilm)
Magazines and Periodicals
Texas Newspapers on Microfilm
Vertical Files on a variety of Texas and Dallas subjects, from businesses and clubs to biographies, since the 1950s. Vertical files may include newspaper clippings, fliers and other formats.
High School and College Annuals and Yearbooks
Dallas Public Library owns a large collection of school annuals/yearbooks from across the state. Most items can also be found in the Dallas Public Library catalog. Items do not circulate, but can be viewed in the reading room on the 7th floor of the Central Library.
Texas Telephone, City, and Criss-Cross Directories
The Dallas History & Archives Division maintains a collection of telephone, city, and criss-cross directories for cities across Texas, in hard copy and microfilm. For preservation reasons, patrons MAY NOT photocopy from the hard copy originals, but can make copies from our microfilm holdings.
Texas High School and College Annuals and Yearbooks
Dallas History & Archives owns a large collection of school annuals/yearbooks from across the state. Most items can also be found in the Dallas Public Library catalog. Items do not circulate, but can be viewed in the reading room on the 7th floor of the Central Library.
Dallas History
Abstracts from 14th District Court -- Minute Book A (1846-1855)
Dallas Morning News, 1885 to 1977; Sept. 1, 1984 to 2016
Historic Residences of Downtown Dallas
Murphy & Bolanz Maps Neighborhood block maps of Dallas and surrounding areas 1880-1920
Texas History
Texas Digital Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps - made available by Dallas Public Library subscription to TexShare. Accessible at any Dallas Public Library location or remotely with library card and log-in. Note about how to access: After clicking the link at left, click "Texshare" on the page that opens. That will open a list of TexShare resources on the right side of the page. Look toward the bottom of that list for "Texas Digital Sanborn Maps" and click that link to access the maps.
An encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture comprising more than 23,000 articles on people, places, events, historical themes, institutions. Provide concise, authoritative, and accessible articles that provide factual, nonpartisan accounts on virtually every aspect of Texas history and culture.