Historical Connections to Caroline County

Updated: September 2020

Click here to view a map of counties surrounding Caroline in 1728. (Map courtesy of Gold Bug.)
Westmoreland Co.  New Kent Co  Lancaster Co.
Northumberland Co.  Rappahannock Co.  York Co.
King and Queen Co.  King William Co.  Essex Co.
 Hanover Co.  King George Co.  Stafford Co.
 Spotsylvania Co.  Louisa Co.  Town of Louisa


Access Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg newspapers where many Caroline residents are mentioned.

Have you ever wondered where Caroline County's original records are kept?? Thanks to Barry McGhee here's the scoop:

"Precious few pre-Civil War Caroline Co. probate and land records have survived and they are scattered. Some are in the Archives of the Library of VIRGINIA, (Check the book "Caroline County Records..." by William Hopkins), some are at the Caroline County Circuit Court in Bowling Green, VA and some are among the District and Superior Court records at the Circuit Court for the City of Fredericksburg, VA. They are all public records so that you may access any or all of them....the trick is in finding them! Hopkins's book provides citations for the LVA records. The courthouse records are 'find me if you can.' As far as is known, all post-Civil War probate and land records are at the Caroline Co. Courthouse. A word of warning for those planning a trip to the area for research: "The records at the Fredericksburg Courthouse are sealed by court order to general public access while they are being preserved. Requests for photocopies of specific records will be honored by the Clerk of the Court, providing that the act of photocopying does not pose a risk to the survival of the document(s)." If you are interested, visit Barry's Court Records Digest, accessible through both his Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg USGenWeb pages. His Records Conservation Project has been working for over 5 years to index and microfilm these original documents. The records which have been processed are available to the public and can be accessed via an electronic finding aid at the courthouse.



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