I had the pleasure this month of visiting the Archives de Paris, the public archives of the city of Paris. It is located on boulevard Sérurier near the Porte des Lilas metro station. That metro station is on metro lines 11 and 3bis.

During my visit, I was impressed by the records available at the Archives de Paris and by the archives’ computerization projects. I found the archives staff friendly and the archives relatively easy to use. It helps to speak French, but staff members also speak English. You need to leave your coat and belongings in a locker except for those you will need for your research. You can order material using the computer system in the archives. There are self-serve microfilm readers to use for the material on microfilm. You need to obtain a prepaid copy card from a machine dispenser, which is easy to do. Some of the more important reference books are available on open shelves in the reading room.

The Archives de Paris has the civil registers of birth, marriage and death from the 20 districts (arrondissements) of Paris up to 1902. The pre-1860 registers were destroyed in 1871 and have only been partially reconstructed.  For post-1902 records, you can write directly to the town hall (mairie) of the district in which the event occurred. Births and marriages are available if they are older than 75 years. Deaths are available regardless of date. ProGenealogists can obtain civil records of birth, marriage and death for you from the Archives de Paris or the town halls; please write for an estimate.

The Archives de Paris has computerized a significant body of documents, and they may be viewed on the computers in the reading room. The Archives de Paris is due to begin putting these online on its web site soon. The computerized records available in the reading room include Paris civil registration up to 1902 and other genealogically relevant records. The records are not online yet, but look for them to appear soon on the Archives de Paris web site!

You can press a button for the English version of the web site, but in my experience this takes you to the main http://www.paris.fr/ page which does not concern the archives. If you want to view the archives descriptive pages online in a language other than French, I found it more effective to translate the pages concerning the archives using the Google Translator or another translation tool.

Many other records (as well as research guides, indexes and inventories) pertaining to Paris, and indeed to all of France, may be consulted at the Archives de Paris. They include Paris directories (starting in 1838), Paris electoral lists (1801-2003), and Paris succession (probate) records (1791-1977), and Paris military recruitment registers (1859-1938), and other sources. ProGenealogists can obtain records for you from these collections; please write for an estimate.

I had the opportunity to examine the directories (Bottins du Commerce) of 1838, 1839, and 1840. These are very useful publications containing detailed Paris directories, and they are not limited to Paris. In addition to the alphabetical listing of residents, there is also a listing of individuals by occupation. Further, these directories proceed to list the names and occupations of individuals in towns and cities throughout France. In many cases, only the person’s surname is given rather than full name.

Additional contact details are:
Archives de Paris
18, boulevard Sérurier
75019 PARIS
France
Telephone: 01 53 72 41 23
Fax: 01 53 7 41 34
Email: dac.archives@paris.fr
Web Site: http://www.archives.paris.fr/