Red River Valley Genealogical Society

RED RIVER VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

The Red River Valley Genealogical Society was formed in 1968. Our purpose is:

To encourage the study of genealogy.
To help others gather genealogical information.
To establish a library of books and research materials.
To preserve and compile genealogical records.
To encourage public officials in charge of public records to preserve them and make them accessible.
To publish such books and records.

The geographic area of coverage is the Red River Valley of the North region of North Dakota and Minnesota. Please see the map for a list of the counties we cover:

North Dakota Counties		Minnesota Counties
Pembina Walsh Grand Forks Traill Cass Richland Cavalier Ramsey Nelson Griggs Steele Barnes Ransom Sargent Towner Benson Wells Eddy Foster Stutsman Lamoure Dickey		Kittson Roseau Marshall Polk Norman Clay Wilkin

Membership is open to any person interested in genealogy. Dues are $15/year for individuals, $25/year for Family and $50/year for businesses.

Benefits to members include free admittance to the Library and over 5000 books, articles, family newsletters and obituaries. A subscription to our newsletter and free access to our searchable digital files.

Printable Membership Application (This link will open a new window)

The RRVGS Library has grown extensively and holdings exceed 5,000 resources. The Library is located at Bonanzaville USA - 1351 W Main Ave, West Fargo ND. (701) 239-4129

The Library is open to the public, but is owned and operated by our Society without the support of any tax dollars. We rely solely on our membership dues, donations, sale of our publications and the funds we receive through the research we do for our members and non-members to keep our doors open.

PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO OUR LIBRARY FUND

The Red River Valley Genealogical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization qualified to receive donations that are deductible for federal income tax purposes.

HOURS ARE:

May through October; Thursday and Friday 1:00pm to 4:00pm,
and Saturday 11:00am to 3:00pm.

November through April; Friday 1:00 pm to 4:00pm.

We will open our library if an appointment is made at least a week prior to your arrival and we have someone available to meet with you.

Please call our Library at (701) 239-4129 and leave a message with date of arrival and a return number to call.

We are staffed by volunteers and occassionally; no volunteers are available, so please call before coming to the library (701) 239-4129.

Although open to the puclic, we do ask for a free will offering, This helps cover some of our operating expenses and the purchase or replacement of new books and other publications.

Photocopy service is available, Free parking and WiFi service.

Click on list of holdings here.

RRVGS has conducted several records collection projects.

RRVGS collected headstone inscriptions of 27 counties in North Dakota and Minnesota and published them.
RRVGS has collected regional funeral home records, created indexes for them and published the indexes.
RRVGS conducts a newspaper obituary clipping project. We have clipped and preserved obituaries found in the Fargo Forum since November 1975. Obituaries may be ordered. A fee is charged for research and copy of orbitauries.
RRVGS offers pioneer certificates to descendants of qualified ancestors whose settlement in the North Dakota portion of Dakota Territory on or before 2 November 1889 and which can be documented.
RRVGS volunteers are currently digitizing for archival and research purposes many of our cemetery records, newsletters, family histories, obituaries and other loose-leaf publications. These searchable files are available at the library for genealogical and historical research. This material may be protected by copyright law under Title 17 U.S. Code

RRVGS has surveyed many of the cemeteries of the Red River Valley of the North (Eastern ND and Western MN). We have self-published cemetery books listing the relevant data recorded on the grave markers. A complete listing of our published books can be found by clicking on the publications for sale tab.

To view the name indexes available visit http://www.ndgenweb.org/table.htm