Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Lee County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Newspapers
- American Eagle (Estero, Fla.)1906-1946
- Fort Myers Daily Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)1911-1914
- Fort Myers Press (Fort Myers, Lee Co., Fla.)1903-1911
- Fort Myers Press Consolidated With the Tropical News (Fort Myers, Lee Co., Fla.)1897-1903
- Fort Myers Tropical News (Fort Myers, Lee County, Fla.)1920-193?
- Fort Myers Weekly Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)1911-1914
- The American Eagle and Horticulture Review (Estero, Fla.)1946-1949
- The Caloosahatchee Current (Labelle, Fla.)1922-192?
- The Fort Meyers Press (Fort Meyers, Fla.)1884-????
- The Fort Myers Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)1914-193?
- The Fort Myers Press (Myers, Monroe Co., Fla.)1884-1897
- The Islander (Sanibel, Fla.)1935-19??
- The Lee County News (Fort Myers, Florida)1909-1911
- The Sanibel Islander (Sanibel Island, Lee County, Fla.)1934-1935
- The Weekly Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)1914-19??
- Weekly Fort Myers Press (Fort Myers, Fla.)1911-1911
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected newspaper titles cataloged by the Library of Congress with explicit county geography. Priority is given to titles beginning by 1950; up to five later titles are included where no earlier dated title is listed for that county. Dates describe publication history, not the issues available at a library. Multiple format records with the same title, place and dates are grouped. The catalog may describe paper, microfilm or online resources. Open ends and the word Current reflect the catalog description; confirm present availability and exact holdings with the libraries listed on the linked record.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Lee County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the clerk of the circuit court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The clerk of the circuit court
In Florida the clerk keeps most county records: deeds and other official records, marriage licenses, probate and court cases.
- The State Archives of Florida
In Tallahassee: territorial and state records, Confederate pension files, and the state censuses.
- State Archives of Florida (Florida Memory)free
The State Archives' online collections: Confederate pension applications, Spanish land grants, photographs and more, with the archives in Tallahassee.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Florida, Lee" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Monroe County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Monroe County
Later formed partly from Lee County: Collier County, Hendry County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1887, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Florida's statewide birth and death records begin in the late 1800s and are fullest from 1917. Florida took state censuses in 1885, 1935 and 1945, among others, which fill gaps between federal ones.