Ancestry Library Edition
"The World's #1 Genealogy Web site" includes the federal census records and much, much more. Access to Ancestry Library Edition is available at any Kansas City Public Library branch.

Kansas City Area FAQs
Fifteen frequently asked questions about the Kansas City area.

Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star has a searchable database of articles beginning in 1991. These do not include photographs and graphics. With a KCPL library card and your pin number, you can access this database from your home computer.

All Library Databases
Library databases contain full-text and abstracts from newspapers, magazine and journal articles. Other types are available such as encyclopedias, WorldCat (a worldwide online catalog of books), language helps, medical information, and telephone directories. With a KCPL card, you can access most of these on your own computer.

Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps™ are “valuable historical tools for urban specialists, social historians, architects, geographers, genealogists, local historians, planners, environmentalists and anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of American cities, towns, and neighborhoods.” With a KCPL library card and your pin number, you can access this database from your home computer.

Mid-Continent Library – Genealogy Branch
This branch in Independence, Missouri, is considered one of the top ten genealogy libraries in the United States. (816.252.7228)

National Archives and Records Administration - Central Plains Region
Located in Kansas City, this regional branch of the National Archives has over 43,000 cubic feet of federal documents from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. It also has census, Freedmen’s Bureau, Native American, and diplomatic records on microfilm. (816.268.8000)

Heritage League
Links to area museums and historical agencies. “Established in 1980, the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City is a non-profit, membership organization representing museums and agencies in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area who are dedicated to the preservation of our cultural heritage.”

Research Guides
For more links to lists of Kansas City city directories, yearbooks, newspapers, and other important Web sites, check out the Missouri Valley Special Collections Research Guides.

Western Historical Manuscript Collection
WHMC, a joint collection of the University of Missouri and the State Historical Society of Missouri, contains primary source materials for research and welcomes use by scholars, students, and the public. The WHMC network allows for the full resources of the Collection -- the holdings of all four branches in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis -- to be available to researchers throughout the state of Missouri.