Spartanburg Genealogy Records
Spartanburg genealogy research draws on Spartanburg County records, as Spartanburg is the county seat of Spartanburg County in the South Carolina Upstate. Spartanburg County was formed in 1785, and the region has deep roots in the Scots-Irish and German communities that settled the Upstate Piedmont. Spartanburg later became one of South Carolina's most significant textile manufacturing cities. The Kennedy Room at the Spartanburg County Public Library is the primary local resource for Spartanburg genealogy. All official genealogy records for Spartanburg residents are held at the Spartanburg County Probate Court and Register of Deeds.
Spartanburg Quick Facts
Kennedy Room for Spartanburg Genealogy Research
The Kennedy Room at the Spartanburg County Public Library at 151 S Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306 is the primary local resource for Spartanburg genealogy. Phone: (864) 596-3505. The Kennedy Room holds an extensive collection of Spartanburg County family histories, local history publications, county records on microfilm, city directories, local newspapers, and genealogical reference materials specific to the Spartanburg area. The collection includes materials compiled by local genealogical societies and individual researchers that document hundreds of Spartanburg County families from the late eighteenth century through the twentieth century. The Kennedy Room's staff can assist researchers in navigating both the local collection and the broader network of county, state, and church records that document Spartanburg genealogy.
Wofford College in Spartanburg maintains special collections and archives that hold materials related to the Methodist community of the Upstate and the broader history of Spartanburg. The college was founded in 1854 and its archives document the educational and cultural life of Spartanburg over more than a century and a half. Converse University archives hold materials related to the university's history and the families connected to it. The Spartanburg County Historical Association at 100 E Main Street publishes materials on Spartanburg history and maintains research files on county families.
Spartanburg's role as the Hub City of the Upstate has made it a center of record-keeping and research resources for generations of genealogists tracing the Scots-Irish and German families of the South Carolina Piedmont.
Spartanburg County Records for Genealogy
The Spartanburg County Probate Court at 180 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306 holds marriage licenses from July 1, 1911 through June 30, 1950 and estate records dating back to 1785. Phone: (864) 596-2556. For Spartanburg marriages from July 1950 onward, contact the South Carolina Department of Public Health at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Phone: 803-898-3630. The probate court's estate records from the late eighteenth century forward provide a continuous record of the county's founding families and their descendants.
The Spartanburg County Register of Deeds at 366 N Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303 maintains land records dating back to 1785. Phone: (864) 596-2514. The SCDAH Online Records Index includes early land plats for Spartanburg County from the initial settlement period. Spartanburg County contributed territory to form Cherokee County in 1897, so researchers tracing families from the northern Spartanburg area near Gaffney should also check Cherokee County records for the period after 1897.
Spartanburg Vital Records
South Carolina required birth and death registration starting January 1, 1915. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History holds Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg County deaths from 1915 through 1967. Records for Spartanburg city residents are filed under Spartanburg County. For Spartanburg genealogy before 1915, church records are particularly rich because Spartanburg's strong Methodist and Baptist communities maintained careful registers from the late eighteenth century. Wofford College archives hold Methodist church records relevant to the Upstate that help researchers trace vital events before civil registration. The Kennedy Room at the county library holds compiled cemetery records and church record transcriptions that supplement the official vital records.
SCDAH holds microfilm and digital collections covering Spartanburg County from its 1785 formation, complementing the extensive local resources available through the Kennedy Room and county offices in Spartanburg.
Nearby Cities
Spartanburg is the county seat of Spartanburg County. Greer straddles the Spartanburg-Greenville county line. Cherokee County was formed from northern Spartanburg County territory in 1897.