Powerful online libraries,
includingAncestry LibraryandHeritageQuest,
for beginning
and professional researchers. Included are census, birth, marriage, death, immigration and
military
records
and much, much more.
Location -
MAP - Paris is about 17
miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky, on US 27/68 - only a short
jog from Interstates 64 and 75. The library is located in the
heart of downtown on the corner of High and Seventh Streets, only
a few short blocks from the
Courthouse.
The John
Fox Jr. Genealogical Library
is just down the street and
features an extensive and interesting collection of resources --
don't miss it!
Research Room: A quiet
conference room is dedicated to our modest collection of local
interest books and donated family records. Some of these materials
are not completely indexed or cataloged; allow plenty of time to
browse! Items from this room may be copied (cost is $0.15/page)
but cannot be checked out of the library.
(Please Note: This room is normally open during all normal
library hours, but due to space constraints it is occasionally
reserved for other uses and unavailable to researchers. If you are
planning a special visit to our library for genealogical research,
please call ahead to confirm availability.)
Queries:
The library does not have sufficient staff
resources to accommodate the many requests we receive for
assistance with genealogical research.
See our query guidelines, and/or investigate the
local genealogical society and/or
other resources listed below. Good luck with your research!
IMPORTANT: If you are
interested in any of our materials and you are not a
registered
borrower/member of our library, please check with your own
local library about Inter-Library Loan. Simply provide the
details to your local librarian, who will determine
the most appropriate lender and process your request.
Inter-library loan is, by definition, between libraries.
Most libraries belong to a network of other libraries from which
they may request loans in a specific order and fashion. We
cannot loan materials directly to non-member individuals.(Note: Microfilm and selected reference materials are never loaned
at all, and always stay in the library.)
If you've ever dreamed of reading
the January 2, 1900, edition of Paris, Kentucky's "Bourbon
News", this site will offer a form of wish fulfillment. This
newspaper (and many others) are part of the Chronicling
America website, which was produced by the National
Digital Newspaper Program. The program is the result of a
partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities
and the Library of Congress. In the "View" section of the site,
visitors can view a range of newspapers from 1880 to 1910 from
ten different states, including Kentucky, Utah, Virginia,
Nebraska, and Minnesota. Visitors can use their search engine to
perform detailed searches across the collection, and if they
don't find what they are looking for, they can click on over to
the "Find" area. Here, visitors can find general publication
information about thousands of current and defunct publications
organized by newspaper title.
-- Copyright 2009 Internet Scout
Project -
http://scout.wisc.edu
NOTE: Some of the above are actual digital copies, some are
merely records indicating where the microfilm copies are held
(which libraries).
Bourbon County Courthouse
http://www.bourboncountyclerk.ky.gov/ Courthouse Square, 301
Main Street, Paris KY 40361
County Clerk's Office: 859-987-2142
Hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm, weekdays
Available documents include marriage records, deed books, will
books, and a huge collection of administrative records, dated from
1786 to the present.
Bourbon County - African
American Griots
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyafamer/Bourbon/bourbon.htm
The goal for this site is to
be a centralized location for African American records in the
state of Kentucky; it is part of KYGenWeb Special Collection's
Project.
Cane Ridge
Meeting House
http://www.ccinky.net/CaneRidge/index.htm Bourbon
County site of the "Great Revival" of August 1801 led by Barton
Stone and attended by thousands. Foundation of sects including the
Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, and Cumberland
Presbyterians.
Here is a
MAP
showing how to get to Cane Ridge from the public library in
downtown Paris.
Cemeteries in
Bourbon County
PARIS
CEMETERY (since 1847)
http://www.parisky.com/cemetary.html
1603
South Main Street, Paris KY 40361
Phone: 859-987-4078
With arched Gothic-style gates and gently rolling grounds, this
cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In early 2001, Paris Cemetery office manager Brenda Childers
completed a transcription of all cemetery records into book
form. This book is now available to the public at the
Paris-Bourbon County Library. A partial listing (before 1912) is
available online at
http://www.shawhan.com/pariscem.html
After five years of
extensive renovations, Duncan Tavern is now open
for tours and special occasions. Conducted by volunteers, tours
are available Tuesday through Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m.,
and 3:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and
children younger than 12. The John Fox Jr. Library is open for
research, Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There is a $4.00 fee for use of the
library (library fee waived for members of the DAR, SAR, and CAR).
For information about tours or to schedule catered events,
call 859-987-1788 from 10:00am to 4:00 pm, Tuesday through
Saturday. Resident Curator: Carol Ann Skinner.
Hopewell
Museum
http://www.parisky.com/hopewell.html 800
Pleasant St., Paris KY 40361 (859) 987-7274 The citizens of Bourbon County opened Hopewell Museum in 1995
to present the rich historical story of one of Kentucky's oldest
counties and to provide a showcase for Kentucky arts. The pretty
beaux arts building which houses the museum is an attraction in
itself. The structure was built in 1909 as the town's post office
building. The museum is open from noon to 5 PM Thursday, Friday
and Saturday; 2 to 4 PM Sunday; and by appointment. Admission is
$2.
Kentucky Obituary
Links
http://www.obitlinkspage.com/obit/ky.htm
Links to Kentucky
obituaries, death notices, mortality schedules, cemetery
inscriptions, and other genealogical data, arranged by counties.
FamilySearch Online www.familysearch.org
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, renowned for its genealogical research
facilities, calls this database the easiest way to date of finding
ancestors born in the USA. Includes free access to the 1880
census, which is important because it is the first census to
include former slaves, the second census in history to record
blacks as individuals rather than as pieces of property, and the
first to list names and birthplaces of parents.
Find-A-Grave http://www.findagrave.com
Over eight million grave listings... some
with photos and virtual memorials.
Obituaries & News
Clippings
Due to limited space and resources, this library keeps recent
newspapers for only a few weeks. NOTE: Microfilm archives of
old newspapers end at 1979 (see
Microfilm
above for complete listing).
In addition, the well-known
genealogy Web site "Cyndi's List" includes a wealth of
information about searching for obituaries:
http://www.cyndislist.com/obits.htm.
In the
early twentieth century, several central Kentucky towns were served by
a light rail service called the Interurban. These electric streetcars
began running between Georgetown and Lexington in 1902; routes to
Paris and other towns were added by 1910. At their peak in 1926, the
streetcars carried seven million passengers. Ridership declined as
automobiles and motorized buses came along. The power plant that was
built to serve the electric streetcar system was the forerunner of
today's Kentucky Utilities electric company in Lexington. Related
books and links:
TRACTION IN THE
BLUEGRASS, by William M. Ambrose. Chronicles the history of public
transportation in the area. Available at the Lexington History Museum,
which has an exhibit on the topic. See
http://www.lexingtonhistorymuseum.org/
THE ELECTRIC
INTERURBAN RAILWAYS IN AMERICA, by George W. Hilton and John F.
Due. Published by Stanford University Press, 2000. See p. 291 on Google Books
at http://tinyurl.com/cdf2nh
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY, by Charles
Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter. Published by The
American Historical Society, 1922. Available in the Reference
Section of this library (not for loan), Call Number
R 976.9 KERR.
See p. 97 on Google Books at
http://tinyurl.com/bjvzq9
The
Ringo Collection
April 2009:
