Pine Bluff Genealogy Records

Pine Bluff genealogy records are held by Jefferson County, with courthouse records going back to 1830 and a library genealogy collection that includes newspaper microfilm dating to the 1820s and an online obituary index.

Jefferson County Courthouse Records

Pine Bluff is the county seat of Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Clerk's office is at 101 W. Barraque Street, Pine Bluff, AR 71601, phone (870) 541-5360. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1830 and probate records from 1845. Jefferson County was formed in 1829 from Arkansas County and Pulaski County. The Circuit Court Clerk holds land records and court files. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.

Jefferson County is one of the older documented counties in Arkansas, and Pine Bluff has been a significant city since the early territorial period. The county has strong connections to African American history — it was one of the most prominent sites of Freedmen's Bureau activity in Arkansas after the Civil War, and the postwar records documenting Black families in the Pine Bluff area are among the most complete in the state. Researchers tracing African American families in this county should combine the Freedmen's Bureau records with the 1870 census and the Slave Schedules from 1850 and 1860.

Pre-1829 records for the Pine Bluff area are in Arkansas County at DeWitt and Pulaski County at Little Rock, the two parent counties from which Jefferson County was formed. Arkansas County records go back to 1815 and are among the earliest in the state.

Pine Bluff Jefferson County Library

The Pine Bluff Jefferson County Library has an important genealogy collection for the area. Key resources include an online obituary index, a genealogy book index, and newspapers on microfilm dating back to the 1820s. The library also has microfilm reader and printer equipment available and accepts photocopy requests. This newspaper archive is one of the deeper ones available at an Arkansas public library and provides access to early Pine Bluff newspapers that predate most official vital records.

The Pine Bluff library's genealogy collection is one of the more complete local genealogy resources in south-central Arkansas.


The Pine Bluff Jefferson County Library holds newspaper microfilm from the 1820s, an online obituary index, and a genealogy book index for Jefferson County research.

The Jefferson County Historical Society, housed at the library, preserves Jefferson County history including Pine Bluff. The Society holds historical archives, photographs, and publications relevant to the broader county area. The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records from 1914. The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds Confederate pension files and microfilmed county materials for Jefferson County. Federal records are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620.

Nearby Cities

Cities near Pine Bluff with genealogy pages include Little Rock. Little Rock is the Pulaski County seat to the north and is one of the parent counties for Jefferson County. The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock is especially valuable for Jefferson County researchers given the depth of Confederate pension files and microfilmed records held there.