Texas General Land Office
Host: Sue Kaufman
Guest: James Harkins, Director of Public Services for the Texas General Land Office Archives and Records Program.
This episode highlights the wonderful history that is held by the Texas General Land Office, containing 45,000 maps and 35 million documents. The maps become the finding aids for many of the land documents. The office has been open since 1836, when the Republic of Texas formed the office to manage the public domain. Many of the items have been digitized and placed online, but a visit to the office will allow you to hold the original documents in your hands!
James has worked for the Texas General Land Office (GLO) since May of 2005 and manages the Save Texas History program. The GLO becomes the resource for those looking to join the Daughters of the Republic of Texas or the Sons of the Republic of Texas, as a land grant may show when their ancestor received land in Texas. The GLO also has Hispanic records prior to the Republic of Texas was formed. And if you have German ancestry, they have information on immigration and migration information. So, if you have anyone that has lived in Texas, there are resources available at the GLO, especially for those Texans that arrived in the state prior to 1900.
Each land grant may have additional letters and correspondence regarding the land which they received. And that is another reason why the visit to the office may be worthwhile. The land grants can be researched online, using the SURNAME Index located on the History tab. And don’t forget that you can order a copy of the map of where your ancestor lived, in full size color.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Address: 1700 N. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701-1495
Telephone: 512-463-5277
Email: archives@glo.texas.gov
URL: www.glo.texas.gov