projects.
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin,
TX
September
25, 2025
This
Family History Month, Explore Free Resources from the Texas State
Library and Archives Commission
Austin,
TX - National Family History Month is celebrated every October,
inviting Americans to research their heritage and connect with their
past. This year, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
(TSLAC) invites Texans to dig deeper into their family history with a
variety of free resources, announced today.
TSLAC's
Genealogy
Resources website
(www.tsl.texas.gov/familyhistory)
was recently updated and provides a useful summary of available
library and archives materials from its extensive collections that
may be of interest to family history researchers.
Library
Collections
Library
resources include publications, indexes, databases and other types of
information that genealogists find useful when tracing their family
trees. Search the TSLAC library
catalog
online for published family and county histories, state and federal
government reports, microfilm and other cataloged titles. Also
available in TSLAC's Reference Reading Room in Austin without an
appointment (and some through Interlibrary Loan) are city
directories, county records, county tax rolls, newspaper collections,
vital statistics indexes and more.
Archival
Collections
Did
your ancestor do business or interact with the governments of the
Republic of Texas or the State of Texas in any way? TSLAC's
archival collections may be of use. Collections of interest to family
historians include Republic of Texas passports, Republic claims,
Adjutant General service records, Confederate pension applications
and indigent families lists, fire insurance maps, clemency records,
convict record ledgers and indexes, election registers, voter
registration lists, and more. Digitized records may also be available
online through Ancestry.com
Texas;
free access to TSLAC records that have been digitized by Ancestry is
available to Texas residents with the creation of a free Ancestry
account. Many of these records are also available in the Texas
Digital Archive
without a subscription or login.
Research
Guides by Topic
TSLAC
has compiled multiple online guides for researchers interested in
specific topics, including:
African
American Genealogy
American
Indian Genealogy
Business
and Company Research
Education
Records and Research Resources
Historical
Elections Research
Mexican
American Genealogy Research
Land
and Property History Research
Military
Records Research
Nacogdoches
Archives
Resources
of the Republic of Texas and Pre-Republic Era (1820-1845)
Online
Services
TSLAC's
Austin and Liberty locations provide free on-site access to Ancestry
Library Edition and NewspaperArchive-Texas on the public computers
in our reading rooms.
On-site
visitors can also access to the TexShare
Databases,
and Texas residents can sign up for remote access. If you are unable
to visit us, contact a TexShare
library near you
about access options. Resources for genealogy and history research in
the TexShare Databases include:
Fold3
Library Edition
HeritageQuest
Online
Newspapers.com
(Texas Edition)
ProQuest
Historical Newspapers
Texas
Digital Sanborn Maps
TSLAC
is a FamilySearch affiliate, and both the Austin and Liberty
locations provide on-site access to restricted images in FamilySearch
affiliate collections. If you are unable to visit, search for a
FamilySearch
center or affiliate
near you (https://locations.familysearch.org).
Learn
more about these and other research resources available from TSLAC at
www.tsl.texas.gov/familyhistory.
Public
service hours on site in the Archives and Reference Reading Rooms at
the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building, located at
1201 Brazos St. in the Capitol Complex in Austin, are 9 a.m. to 4:45
p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second
Saturday of each month. For assistance, call 512-463-5455 or email
ref@tsl.texas.gov.
More information is available at
www.tsl.texas.gov/reference.
Researchers
interested in Southeast Texas are encouraged to visit or contact the
Sam
Houston Regional Library and Research Center
(www.tsl.texas.gov/shc),
which serves as the official regional historical resource depository
for the 10 Southeast Texas counties of Chambers, Hardin, Jasper,
Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto and Tyler. In
addition to preserving historically significant state and local
government records and publications, the Center serves as a library
of Texana and genealogical resources. Visit the Center's museum,
featuring the exhibit Atascosito:
The History of Southeast Texas.
Located at 650 FM 1011 in Liberty, the Sam Houston Center is open
Tuesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
###
The
Texas State Library and Archives Commission provides Texans access to
the information needed to be informed, productive citizens by
preserving the archival record of Texas; enhancing the service
capacity of public, academic and school libraries; assisting public
agencies in the maintenance of their records; and meeting the reading
needs of Texans with disabilities. For more information, visit
www.tsl.texas.gov.
Peggy
Price
Education
Outreach Coordinator
pprice@tsl.texas.gov
512-463-9807
This site is slowly changing;
for information contact:
Pat Frost
UPDATED
October 05, 2025
Eastland
County History
Eastland County is in
Central Texas, bordered on the east by Erath County, on the
north by Stephens and Palo Pinto Counties, on the west by
Callahan County, and on the south by Brown and Comanche
Counties. The county was named for Capt. William Mosby
Eastland, who served in the Texas Revolution. Eastland, the
county seat, is located on Interstate Highway 20 in the
north central part of the county, some ninety five miles
west of Fort Worth and fifty five miles east of Abilene.
Created in 1858 from Bosque, Travis and Coryell
Counties-Organized in 1873-County Seats: Merriman (1873-75);
Eastland (1875- )
Copyright: 9/1/2025-present,
Pat
FrostCopyright: 2020-9/1/2025 to present Wanda Brewer
Copyright: 2009-2019 Tim Seawolf-Self
and Barbara Peck
Copyright: 2009 Shirley Cullum
2002-2008 Tami Ramsey 2020 TXGenWeb County Coordinators
These pages are for personal use only,
they may NOT be reproduced in whole or part in any format
for presentation, distribution or profit by anyone without
the express written consent of the contributor.