by Megan Schiffres
The Lancaster Virginia Historical Society is reaching out for financial support from the community to relocate and expand its library and genealogical center.
Formerly known as the Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library, the historical society, founded in 1958, owns the most extensive and complete set of available records regarding Lancaster County and its historic families. These records date from the county’s founding in 1651 and include a collection of over 9,000 books, manuscripts, periodicals, microfilms, court records, research notes, church and cemetery records, county histories and marriage, birth and death certificates.
The society’s collection, when coupled with intact court records, is nationally recognized as one of the nation’s most rewarding repositories of family information and local history.
Currently housed in a leased, former real estate office in Lancaster across Mary Ball Road from the museum, the history library’s contents far outweigh its capacity.
“We have records and information on all aspects of our region, not just the large landholders but also the middle class, tradesmen, as well as free blacks and slaves who lived here and whose…
