Friends of the Yolo County Archives

Genealogy Research Guide

Genealogy Research Guide

If you have ancestors who lived in Yolo County, Archives staff can help you find answers to your questions about your family history, whether you’re new to genealogy or are already an expert researcher. 

See the new Archives publication for many useful tips!

Yolo Philanthropy Award Recepient

FYCA Honors Bob Loessberg-Zahl

The Yolo County Archive been fortunate to have Bob Loessberg-Zahl as a volunteer since August of 2017. Over the course of his volunteering, Bob has generously provided over 1,771 hours of support to the Archives in the form of research for exhibits, collections processing, digitization, obituary collecting, metadata cleanup, and work on the Archives’ catalog.

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During 2020, when the Archives shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bob spent over 600 hours at home working on cleaning up catalog records for the Archives’ collection in anticipation of launching our new online database. Bob’s work allowed the Archives to ingest complete and accurate records, ultimately making the catalog more robust and useful for our community and Archives staff. Since 2020, and the implementation of the Archives' catalog, Bob has continued to create catalog records for new collections and add URLs into the catalog for resources that have been digitized and are available online. To date, Bob has edited or created over 9,180 records in the Archives' catalog.


Bob was instrumental in researching and developing the exhibit for the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Yolo County Courthouse, including creating a timeline and unearthing important and historic court cases. The Archives was also incredibly fortunate to have Bob’s assistance during the renovation of our facility in 2018 and 2019. 


Bob has been an invaluable addition to the Archives team through his diligent, thoughtful, and meticulous work, which has helped increase collections preservation and access, as well as his generosity, positivity, and collaborative spirit. 


Heather Lanctot

Archives & Records Center Coordinator

Yolo County Library

Celebrating the Amazingness of the Archives

The Amazingness of the Archives

Supervisor Lucas Frerichs presents Heather Lanctot, Archives & Records Center Coordinator, with Board Resolution No. 24-132 to celebrate National Archives Month and speaks of "the amazingness of the Yolo County Archives" during the Yolo County Board of Supervisor meeting on October 8, 2024.


The Archives Ledger

The Fall Archives Ledger

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The Archives Ledger is the quarterly newsletter published by Friends of the Yolo County Archives. 

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The Fall Archives Ledger includes the following and more:

Support the Yolo County Archives

Help Preserve Yolo County History! 

Support the digitization and the preservation of digital collections at the Yolo County Archives with a membership or donation.

 The Yolo County Archives is working to digitize materials that are of high research value, help to document the history of the County, and add another layer of preservation for the items themselves.

Please Renew Your FYCA Membership

Membership Renewal Message


Dear Friends, 

As an organization dedicated to preserving history, sometimes a year can seem like just a blip in the long march of time, and yet so much can be accomplished in just 365 days! Last fall the Friends of the Yolo County Archives asked for your assistance in funding extra-help staff for the Archives. Through your generosity, we approved a grant to the Archives for $21,534.00.

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This grant has allowed:

•      Michelle Trujillo to digitize 2900+ photographs from the Yolo Historical Museum Photo Collection and accomplish significant metadata cleanup and enhancement. Images from this collection have been featured in the Archives Ledger, displays for the Archives Crawl and Women's History Month, social media, and more.

•      Mars Goulas to digitize Winters High School yearbooks from 1907-1970 and Woodland High School yearbooks from 1905-1942. Yearbooks are popular with patrons, whether they are searching for family members, interested in tracking demographic changes over time or looking for local business advertisements.

•      Adrienne Fortini to digitize indexes to deeds and grantor/grantee indexes from 1850 up to 1949. These digitized indexes have been extremely useful for helping Archives staff expedite research requests involving property record searches. 

Through diligence and hard work, the extra-help assistants have made our county history more accessible than ever before. With your continued support imagine what they will accomplish in the next 365 days! 

We invite you to visit our Membership Page to renew or begin an FYCA membership. 

Wishing you the best for a happy and healthy 2024 and thank you for your continued support! 

Anastasia Panagakos

FYCA Board President 2023-24

Our New County Librarian

Diana Lopez, County Librarian and Chief Archivist.(Photo by Alan Dep--Marin Independent Journal)──────────

Welcome, Diana

In the Spring Archives Ledger, Rachel Poutasse writes: "The Archives is delighted to welcome our new County Librarian and Chief Archivist, Diana Lopez. Diana comes to us from the City of Richmond Library, where she most recently served as Deputy Director of Community Services. Previously, she worked at Marin County Free Library and Pasadena City College. Diana brings over 20 years of experience to Yolo County and we are excited to be working with her for the months and years ahead."

Our New Museum Curator

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Welcome, Sarah! 

In the Summer Archives Quarterly Report, Heather Lanctot writes: "We are excited to welcome Sarah Bartlett, our new Museum Curator for the Historical Collection. Sarah has bachelor's degrees in Anthropology, Classical Studies, and Political Science and a master's degree in Anthropology. Her experience with museums includes curation of digital and physical exhibits as well as training and certification in preservation. Sarah has also worked as a docent at a Victorian-era house museum." 

Property Research Guide

Property Research Guide

The  Yolo County Archives has many resources for conducting property research in Yolo County. 

See the new Archives publication for many useful tips!

A New Archives Web Page

A New Archives Web Page

A new Archives web page with many resource links!

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The New Archives Online Database

Yolo County Collections

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The Yolo County Collections Database contains digital reproductions of and information about the historic records and objects from the Yolo County Archives and the Yolo County Historical Collection. 

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The two collections can be searched simultaneously, or independently. There are already thousands of digitized photographs available to view and new digital content will be added over time.

Yolo County Archives 

The Archives

The Yolo County Archives is the official repository for the historical records of Yolo County. It houses collections from private donors and organizations that reflect the County's history from 1850.

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YCHC

The Yolo County Historical Collection is comprised of 11,000 objects which date from the 1830s to the 1930s.  Sarah Bartlett is the Yolo County Museum Curator and works under the Yolo County Library.  

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Archives Report

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Yolo County Archives

The Hours

The Yolo County Archives is open by appointment on Tuesday from 9 AM to 1 PM and on Thursday from 12 PM to 4 PM. Call 530-666-8010 to set up an appointment. 

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The Location

The Yolo County Archives is located in the Shipley Walters Center for Yolo County Archives and Library Services at 226 Buckeye Street in Woodland.

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The A Team

Women make history and they preserve it too! Thanks to Marta Knight, Heather Lanctot, Iulia Bodeanu, and Ruby Buentello for all of their work in preserving Yolo County's rich history!  

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Friends of the Yolo County Archives

About FYCA

Friends of the Yolo County Archives (FYCA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation whose purpose is to support the services, staff, and facilities of the Yolo County Archives.  

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Connect

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Membership

Support the work of the Archives and the Friends by beginning  or renewing  your membership.

Behind The Scenes

Isabel Araujo introduces the many Archives staff and volunteers who  work "Behind The Scenes."

Thank You!

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone for supporting the Friends and the Yolo County Archives during this year's Big Day of Giving.

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