Plan Your Visit - Contact Us Before You Visit, Call Ahead!

Our research room is open to the public, Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Occasionally, Archives staff are called to work outside of the office.  Your time is valuable to us.  Call ahead! Contact us in advance of your visit to let us know that you are planning a trip to the Archives.  

Each of our repositories hold different groups of records.  To make the most efficient use of your time, please call, or e-mail us in advance to make sure that the documents or the microfilm you want to see are available.

We are limited to the records in our collections.  Our database contains records from local county offices such as he probate office, circuit court, tax assessor, revenue commission and orphan's court. We assist the public in their research for documents and artifacts maintained by the county archives.  If you require extensive research assistance, we offer you a list of researchers who are available for hire.   (Note: Researchers for hire are not Baldwin County Commission employees).  The department neither endorses any persons nor vouches for their work.  They have simply indicated to us that they are available to perform research for a fee.  A listing is available by request.

Research Support Services

Services for On-Site Visitors

Our Research support services primarily consist of providing information about the records in our custody, making the records available in our research rooms, and providing ordering information you wish to obtain copies of readily identifiable records.  Our ability to help you is greatly enhanced when you have done the background preparation necessary for research in primary sources.

Our reference staff will help you onsite by:

• Orienting you to onsite research support services, research facilities, and rules for handling archival materials;
• Assisting you in the navigation of relevant indexes and finding aids;
• Facilitating your completion of the forms necessary to request delivery of original records to a research room;
• Aiding you in the safe handling of the records and in the use of self-service copiers when original records are delivered to a research room; and
• Directing you to alternate sources of pertinent information when known.

If you contact us from your home or office, we will help you by:  

• Researching available indexes and other finding aids to determine whether we hold records relevant to your request;
• Offering reproductions of the records for a fee or recommending a research visit if necessary; and
• Directing you to alternate sources of pertinent information when known.

Can I conduct archival research if I am unable to visit Archives?

Services for Off-Site Visitors 

We are staffed to provide research support services, not research itself. The extent that we can support your research if you are unable to visit us is limited by three key factors, namely the nature of your research question, the precision of available finding aids, and the arrangement of the most relevant records.

When you contact us, we will do our best to address your needs by searching our finding aids for you.  If your request is specific and the finding aids that cover possibly relevant records are detailed enough, we may be able to tell you that we have the exact item you need.  If your request is board or the finding aids that cover possibly relevant records are general, we may only be able to identify whole file systems or series that could relate to your topic, but not individual items.  Sometimes our search of the finding aids will reveal no match at all.  In all cases, we will inform you of the results of our search. 

We also provide a listing of independent researchers who perform research activities on behalf of others, usually for appropriate compensation.  The listing is compiled and disseminated as a service to the public.  (The list of researchers provided are not Baldwin County Commission employees).

Research Forms and Information (here)