Lexington Genealogy Records
Lexington genealogy research draws on Lexington County records, as Lexington is the county seat of Lexington County in the South Carolina midlands. Lexington County was formed in 1804 and was settled primarily by German-speaking immigrants, giving it a distinctive genealogical character. German Lutheran and Reformed church records from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are among the most valuable resources for Lexington County families. All official genealogy records for Lexington residents are held at the Lexington County Probate Court and Register of Deeds. The Lexington County Museum and the county library are the primary local genealogy resources.
Lexington Quick Facts
Lexington County Museum for Genealogy Research
The Lexington County Museum at 231 Fox Street, Lexington, SC 29072 holds historical collections that document Lexington County's distinctive German heritage and its development from the colonial era through the modern period. Phone: (803) 359-8369. The museum maintains the Colonel Benjamin Shealy House and other historic structures on its campus, along with artifacts, documents, and photographs that help researchers understand the German immigrant communities that settled this part of South Carolina. For Lexington genealogy, the museum's collections are particularly valuable for tracing families from the colonial and early American period when German Lutheran and Reformed churches were the primary community institutions. The museum holds church records, family papers, and compiled genealogies that document the founding families of the county.
The Lexington County Public Library at 5440 Augusta Road, Lexington, SC 29073 provides access to genealogy resources and local history materials for Lexington and Lexington County. Phone: (803) 785-2600. The library holds city directories, local newspapers, census records, and genealogy reference materials specific to the Lexington area. Because Lexington is the county seat, the library's collections include materials on county administration and history going back to the early nineteenth century. The library also holds published genealogies and family histories that document Lexington County families, complementing the official probate and land records held at the courthouse.
Lexington's German heritage and its role as the county seat make it one of South Carolina's most distinctive genealogy research destinations, with the county museum's German church records and the courthouse records together providing a comprehensive resource for tracing this Piedmont community.
Lexington County Records for Genealogy
The Lexington County Probate Court at 205 E Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072 holds marriage licenses from July 1, 1911 through June 30, 1950 and estate records from 1804 when the county was formed. Phone: (803) 785-8214. For Lexington marriages from July 1950 onward, contact the South Carolina Department of Public Health at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Phone: 803-898-3630. Estate records from the Lexington County area include materials from the German immigrant communities that document property, family relationships, and community ties from the early nineteenth century.
The Lexington County Register of Deeds at 205 E Main Street maintains land records dating back to 1804. Phone: (803) 785-8213. The SCDAH Online Records Index includes Orangeburg District land plats that predate Lexington County's formation and cover the Lexington area from the colonial period. The Orangeburg District colonial records at SCDAH are particularly valuable for tracing the German families who settled the Lexington area in the eighteenth century, and include early land plats that document the initial grants to German immigrant families.
Lexington Vital Records
South Carolina required birth and death registration starting January 1, 1915. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History holds Lexington County birth records for 1915 to 1918 online and death records for 1915 to 1963. The South Carolina Department of Public Health holds vital records from 1915 to present at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia. Phone: 803-898-3630.
The free South Carolina death index for genealogy covers Lexington County deaths from 1915 through 1967. Records for Lexington town residents are filed under Lexington County. For Lexington genealogy before 1915, German Lutheran and Reformed church records are the essential starting point. The St. John's Lutheran Church in Lexington and other historic German congregations maintained registers from the colonial and early American periods that document births, marriages, and deaths for the German immigrant families of the county. The Lexington County Museum holds or has access to many of these historic church records, making it the first stop for researchers tracing Lexington County's German heritage.
SCDAH holds colonial-era Orangeburg District records and Lexington County materials that together document the distinctive German heritage of the Lexington area from the earliest settlement through the modern period.
Nearby Cities
Lexington is the county seat of Lexington County. Columbia and Richland County are just across the Congaree River to the east. The Lake Murray reservoir area is within Lexington County.