Old Search

1870 United States Federal Census

Original Images

This database contains images of original records.

Sample Forms
Download blank Census forms
You can fill out the form with information on your ancestor, or just use it to better read the column headings.

Handwriting Help
View a sampling of handwriting examples
The examples should help you read the text on the original images more easily.

Please choose a county in California:

Alameda Marin Santa Barbara
Alpine Mariposa Santa Clara
Amador Mendocino Santa Cruz
Butte Merced Shasta
Calaveras Mono Sierra
Colusa Monterey Siskiyou
Contra Costa Napa Solano
Del Norte Nevada Sonoma
El Dorado Placer Stanislaus
Fresno Plumas Sutter
Humboldt Sacramento Tehama
Inyo San Bernardino Trinity
Kern San Diego Tulare
Klamath San Francisco Tuolumne
Lake San Joaquin Yolo
Lassen San Luis Obispo Yuba
Los Angeles San Mateo

Census Records - Counties

After separating the census records into groups by state, the federal government subdivided these records into county groups. Searching for an ancestor on the county level provides a smaller region for research if you remain uncertain about the specific township where your ancestor resided. Researchers should also be aware of boundary line or jurisdictional changes through time. These changes may affect where an ancestor was enumerated on the census, so it remains important to search the counties surrounding the area where your ancestor lived.