Chicago Genealogy Records and Sources on the Internet

This webpage lists some places you can find Chicago genealogy records and sources online. Be aware that some records were lost in the Chicago fire of 1871. However, other resources, like the Sam Fink Index, can sometimes be helpful in the pre-1871 period for Chicago genealogy research.

Chicago Vital Records and Obituaries
(Birth, Marriage and Death Records)
The first link also lists some sources for online Chicago newspaper obituaries...

Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records, Indexes and Obituaries
FamilySearch has Cook County Vital Records Indexes for Birth Certificates 1878-1922 and Birth Registers 1871-1915; Marriages 1871-1920; and Deaths 1878-1922 (indexes only; no images).
Cook County Vital Records - Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates (begins circa 1872) includes birth records 75 years or older, marriage licenses 50 years or older and death records 20 years or older; index searches are free with registration; requires payment to download copies of the records
Sam Fink's Chicago Death Notices Index 1856-1889 and Marriage Notices Index 1833-1871 extracted from 10 Chicago newspapers (at Ancestry/requires payment)
Chicago Irish Families 1875-1925 has over 5000 entries, mostly from newspapers, parish records, cemetery inscriptions and other genealogy sources (at Ancestry/requires payment)
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index (coverage varies by county) includes 1833-April 1901 for Cook County (the 1833-1871 period is from the Sam Fink index)

Chicago City Directories

Chicago City Directories: Assorted Years 1844-1947 (coverage and type of directory varies; many of the 20th Century directories are Business Directories) at Ancestry/requires payment
1928 Chicago Criss-Cross Directory listed by street and address
Chicago City Directories Online at ChicagoAncestors.org includes Chicago Street Guides for 1866, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1892, 1900, 1910 and 1923; and Chicago City Directories for 1866, 1870, 1871, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1892, 1900, 1910 and 1923

Illinois Naturalization Records
Note: Cook County Naturalization records prior to 1871 were destroyed in the Chicago fire.

Index to Naturalization Petitions for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa & Wisconsin begins with 1871 for Chicago and Cook County
Cook County, Illinois Naturalization Database: Declarations of Intention Index, 1906-1929
Online Illinois Naturalization Records Indexes and Finding Aids

Chicago Church Records

Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925 at FamilySearch browsable images

Chicago Newspapers (Historical)

The Illinois section at: Historical USA Newspapers and Indexes on the Internet includes links for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Examiner, Chicago Sentinel (weekly Jewish publication), Hyde Park Herald (neighborhood on Chicago's South Side), and others
For Obituaries see the first link in the Vital Records section above

Chicago Property Records

More Chicago Genealogy Online

ChicagoAncestors.org from the Newberry Library has research tools, tips and online records
The Chicago Genealogist Volumes 1-39 (1969-2007) The Chicago Genealogical Society's quarterly available for online searching