Records search at SC Archives

I use the SC Department of archives and History site a lot but have always struggled to find what resources are available for a particular SC county.  My search would give me (for example) the deeds records for all the counties or the probate records for all the counties.  Then I would scroll through the pages to find the unique county resource I was looking for but, of course, many resources were easily missed.

The staff at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History recently gave me a “finding county records” tutorial.  It has changed my life! Now I can find an easy to read list of individual county resources.  

Here are the steps: 

Go to: South Carolina Department of Archive and History

                1. Select the Research & Genealogy tab

                2. Select Online Research

                3. Select Guide to Collections

                4. Select Summary Guide to Local Record and then Summary Guide to County                              Records

Once you select your county there will be a list of resources. If you want detailed information about a specific resource copy the series number ("L 01001"  "L1001001"  "S 102001"  "B 800101"  “C 700001"  “F 600210"  “P 900001"  "O 800210").  Make sure you keep track of the space it is necessary to include that in the catalog search. 

Next, go back to Online Research and select SCArchcat. Click the advanced search and type in series number with the space and in quotes in the Series number search window.  This will give you a detailed finding aid about the resource.