City Records

• Vital records help you learn more about your New York relatives.Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  If you are researching an ancestor who was born, married and died in any of the five New York City boroughs, a trip to the New York City Municipal Archives is a must. Located at 31 Chambers St., Room 103, in New York City, the archives are open to the general public. For $5 you may spend the entire day searching through microfilm of the city's birth, marriage and death certificates.
  
  

State Records

• If your ancestor lived or died in another part of New York State, the New York State Archives are the place to go. The archives are in a large facility on Madison Avenue in Albany, N.Y. You won't find microfilm of actual certificates in the archives--those must be ordered from the New York State Department of Health--but you will find lists of vital records indexes on microfiche.
  
  

Census Forms

• The census can show your ancestors' household.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  The New York State Archives also has the state census forms on microfilm for 1915 and 1925. If you want to view federal census forms for all states from 1790 to 1930, visit to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at 201 Varick St., 12th floor, in New York City. This is also the place to find ship manifests containing the passenger lists from all immigration through Castle Garden and Ellis Island.
  
  

Town Records

• Since the Albany archives and the facilities in New York City are two and a half hours apart, you may want to round out your trip by planning a visit to the town hall in your ancestor's home town. Be sure to contact the town hall ahead of time to find out if it can provide you with copies of your ancestor's vital records, without your having to order them from the state health department.