A large part of my genealogy work happens quietly, behind the scenes, and much of it is volunteer-driven. One of the most rewarding ways I give back to the genealogy community is through my involvement with USGenWeb.
USGenWeb is a nationwide, volunteer-run project dedicated to providing free genealogy resources at the county level. Everything you see on a USGenWeb site, transcriptions, record abstracts, historical notes, and research aids, is created and maintained by volunteers who believe that access to historical information should never be locked behind a paywall.
Over the years, I’ve taken on several county and special-interest projects. Each site focuses on making local research easier by gathering records, historical context, and links that researchers often struggle to find when working from a distance.
These are the USGenWeb sites I currently maintain:
Breckinridge County, Kentucky
https://genheritage.com/breckinridge/
Oldham County, Kentucky
https://genheritage.com/oldham/
Unknown Kentucky Records
https://www.genheritage.com/unknownky/
Russell County, Alabama
https://www.genheritage.com/russellal/
Lee County, Alabama
https://www.genheritage.com/lee/
Highland County, Ohio
https://genheritage.com/highlandoh/
Wilson County, Tennessee
https://www.genheritage.com/wilsontn
New Haven County, Connecticut
https://www.ctgenweb.org/county/conewhaven/
Prince William County, Virginia
https://genheritage.com/virginia/princewilliam/
Each of these sites is built with the same goal in mind: to support researchers who may never set foot in the county they’re researching, yet still deserve access to accurate, useful local information.
Volunteer genealogy work isn’t flashy, and it isn’t fast, but it matters. These small, county-level projects often hold the clues that break brick walls, reconnect families, and preserve local history that might otherwise disappear.
This work is one of the ways I stay grounded in why I started genealogy in the first place: to share knowledge, preserve records, and make research more accessible for everyone. If you would like to volunteer a few hours each month to the USGenWeb Project, visit the website, pick a state, then see what counties they have up for adoption!