Attention: Researchers who wish to perform research on-site may make an appointment by calling (302) 744-5000 or e-mailing archives@delaware.gov More Info
Delaware's most prized documents, photographs of Delaware in the past, historic audio clips, and much more.
The Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room is open to the public from 8:30a to 4:00p, M-F unless otherwise noted.
Guides to our Military records and Agency Histories are just a few of the links available.
You can use your Delaware Library Card to login to the Delaware page on Ancestry.com.
Responsible for the administration and implementation of the Delaware Public Records law.
Search 400,000+ records. Then, get a price quote or print a detail slip for your Research Room visit!
In 2018, some Records Services Team members conducted a cursory inspection of our microfilm to gauge its condition. Over 50% of the rolls inspected showed signs of deterioration. To address this, the Archives purchased a high-performance Mekel MACH10 Scanner from The Crowley Company. With the scanner and its software, we can now digitize our endangered microfilm rolls. And, in addition to preserving the records, digitizing them allows us to make them available online.
Our first bid to save public records was long said to have been in 1818, but a project to digitize old legislative records just found this earlier proposal, introduced in January 1787, to create a state archive.
Delaware Public Archives
121 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. North
Dover, DE 19901
(302) 744-5000