Collection
- Books, documents & microfilm pertaining to Portsmouth and Norfolk County
- Genealogies, memoirs, scrapbooks and notebooks of Portsmouth families and organizations (please donate or share)
- Photo Collections of a number of local historians/photographers. (Please donate or share)
- Jeffrey T Wilson - 1924 “Colored Notes” index and articles from Portsmouth Star newspaper; Bertha Edward – Notes on Portsmouth Black History Opens a New Window.
- Yearbook from various Portsmouth Schools digitized through a project with the Library of Virginia and are made available via the Internet Archive.
- Books by local authors
- Special section on the Civil War including the Applications for membership in the Stonewall Jackson Chapter of Confederate Veterans (including meeting minutes)
Vital & Cemetery Records
Vital and Cemetery Records can be accessed in the room, on this Portsmouth Public Library site, or by visiting the Portsmouth USGENWEB Archive Page and Find A Grave Website; these are updated periodically.
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry will give you access to over 7 billion genealogical records from across the globe and millions of family trees (Only available inside the library). View the Ancestry Library Edition Website
- Family trees
- Helpful tools
- Historical records
- Support
Heritage Quest
HeritageQuest Online provides libraries with a unique, growing collection of research materials for tracing family history and American culture with over 25,000 books, the entire U.S. Federal Census, PERSI™, and other expanding collections. Beginning or professional genealogists can now use this powerful online library, with original page images for all documents, from the convenience of their home or at the library.