Berkshire County, Massachusetts Genealogy Records

Listed record inventories

Selected holdings and indexes for Berkshire County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.

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

• Find Berkshire County's official website

  We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the town or city clerk, the registry of deeds and the probate court.

• The town or city clerk

  Births, marriages and deaths, kept by each town since colonial times.

• The registry of deeds

  Deeds and other land records, by county (some counties have more than one registry district).

• The probate court

  Wills, estates and guardianships, one court in each county.

• The Massachusetts Archives

  In Boston: state vital records from 1841, court records and colonial records.

• Massachusetts Archivesfree

  The state archives in Boston, with state vital records, court and colonial records, and passenger lists for the port of Boston.

• FamilySearch Catalogfree

  Search by place for "Massachusetts, Berkshire" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.

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Boundaries and parent counties

Formed from: Hampshire County

Check the parent county for earlier records: Hampshire County

Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1761, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.