Story County Genealogical Society
Logo design by Karen Pattee David
Story County Genealogical Society
Story County, Iowa, USA
Helping You Connect With Your Heritage

Researching ancestors in Story County, Iowa?  The Story CountyIAGenWeb site is a great place to start.

For background information on Story County and a list of some resources, check the wiki page at FamilySearch.
 
More resources and links for Story County at Linkpendium.

Need research assistance?  We might be able to assist you.  Members of the Story County Genealogical Society are available to help with your research in Story County, Iowa.  For a fee of $15, plus cost of copies and mailing, a researcher will offer an initial assessment and check readily-available, pertinent sources and indexes.  The fee covers a two hour maximum.  We will contact you before going beyond that time. 

Research request form (To use, download, fill out, and mail with a check for $15 to Story County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 692, Ames, Iowa  50010).

We do not do adoption research nor research living persons.  Our research is limited to Story County.

Story County Genealogy Resources


Vital Records began in Iowa July 1, 1880.  Some marriage records in Story County began in 1854.  (The early marriage records usually contain only the names of the bride and groom, date of marriage, and person who officiated.)
 
 Vital records in Story County are open for public inspection (with some exceptions). 
 
Digitized copies of the Ames newspapers, 1877-2019, are available.
The early Nevada (Iowa) and Story County Watchman newspapers are also online.

Another source for Story County vital records is the Iowa Genealogical Society or the State Historical Society of Iowa.  They have microfilmed copies of birth, marriage and death record up to approximately 1935.
 
 This is not a complete list.  There are also church anniversary books, centennial books, and other topical items.
The sources we check are those that are pertinent to what the requester is searching.  (Searching is limited to locations in Story County, Iowa.)
Some resources we can also search on-site:
 
  • Digitized copy of the Ames newspapers.  These date from Jan. 1877 to the present (some issues are missing).  See link above.
    Ames High alumni directory : 1878-2001.

    Ames City directories; 1899 to the present.  (Scattered coverage of some years.)

    Ames High School Spirit (yearbook, from 1912, some years missing)

    Ames telephone directory, (from 1916, some years missing)

    Probate files in Story County (up to about 1941)

    Microfilmed death records (to 1941)

    Story County Grave Marker Inscriptions, v. 1-14