Free Online Illinois Digital Archives

The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is February 2025)

The Ancestor Hunt has been cataloging and listing links to free online genealogy collections in over 24 different record categories since 2014. These are available for you to view and use via the Resources tab above.

There is a massive amount of genealogy and historical material that can help us researchers as we discover who belongs in our family tree, and more importantly, what is their life story. But much of this genealogical and historical material doesn’t fit nicely into a specific genealogy record category.

As researchers, we should avail ourselves of the types of materials listed below. They definitely will help us in our genealogy and family history research  These online resources are available generally at state libraries and archives, larger public libraries, and college and university digital collections. Hence the creation of these lists of links to free online digital archives for the state. I hope they prove useful to you in your pursuit.

Types of Information Available in Digital Archives

  • Scrapbooks
  • Diaries
  • Family Papers, Biographies, and Other Collections
  • Letters
  • Oral Histories
  • Maps
  • Bulletins and Newsletters
  • Corporate Collections
  • Local Community and County Histories
  • Photographs and Postcards
  • Rare Books and Manuscripts
  • Government Publications and Documents
  • And yes, Genealogy Record Collections and Indexes

The Free Online Digital Archives for the state are listed below:

Illinois Archives

For all Free Illinois Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on Illinois, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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