Finding manuscript and archival libraries

Is there a place in your family's ancestral county in Minnesota that has information that might be helpful in your family history search? Is there a university library special collections department back in Massachusetts that might hold some old family papers? How about a college archive that holds old student records? Is there a separate archive for a county government? Many websites link to such repositories of original records, rare books, and other research materials. These are a few that lead you to specific places. I want to visit all of the places and look in the original records for family history. I know that in my lifetime I won't be able to do that and also realize that all these places hold will not be digitized, indexed, and online. Have you ever held a dusty, faded leather bound volume of court records in your hands? Has your research uncovered an original diary that clears up some family stories?

• Repositories of Primary Sources
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• Cyndi's List of Libraries, Archives, and Museums
• Directory of Historical Records Repositories Hawaii
• Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in the Delaware Valley
• Directory of Corporate Archives in the U.S. and Canada
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• County and Municipal Archives in Tennessee
• Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the St. Louis Area