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Introduction: This is a listing of indexes of passenger lists (also called immigration records or ship manifests) for ships that sailed to the United States from 1820 to the 1940s, including microfilm, CD-Roms, books and online indexes. Microfilm records listed here are available from the National Archives (NARA) and some of its branches. Most are also available from LDS Family History Centers. Some public libraries (especially genealogy libraries) may also carry these items.
Some of the online indexes listed below are linked to digitized images of the passenger lists from the National Archives microfilm, which can be viewed online at Ancestry. If you are only interested in the microfilmed passenger lists for offline research see: National Archives Passenger Lists on Microfilm.
A Note on Soundex: If any of the indexes below are designated as "Soundex" then you must convert the surname you are looking for to the soundex code. Visit the soundex webpage to learn the easiest way to do this.
Indexes for Passenger Lists by Port & Time Frame
New York was the most commonly used port for immigrants in the 19th & early 20th Centuries. The list below begins with New York, followed by Baltimore, Boston, Galveston, New Orleans, Philadelphia and smaller ports.
New York 1820-1957
- Online Index: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
 (requires payment) name index plus passenger list images from the National Archives microfilm - includes the Barge Office, Castle Garden and Ellis Island years
New York 1820-1850
- MICROFILM: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820-1846 (NARA & FHL Microfilm Numbers) (NARA Publication M261; 103 rolls)
- ONLINE INDEX & CD-Rom: New York Passenger Lists Online Index 1820-1850 or CD Rom
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1820-1829; From Customs Passenger Lists; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999. (about 1500 pages) This book contains the names of more than 85,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in New York from 1820-1829 taken from a direct transcription of the original microfilmed passenger lists (NARA roll 1 thru part of roll 13 of M237). The book is available in many libraries or it can be ordered from Amazon.com by clicking on the title.
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1830-1832; From Customs Passenger Lists; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000. (about 1160 pages) A sequel to the above book, and arranged in the same way, this volume contains the names of about 65,000 passengers who arrived in New York from 1830-1832. Coverage is for part of roll 13 thru part of roll 18 of NARA microfilm series M237.
New York 1847-1897 (includes Castle Garden, the Barge Office & Ellis Island)
New York passenger lists have not been indexed on microfilm from 1847 to mid 1897, but they are indexed online, and many other resources are also available...
New York 1897-1948
Note: The National Archives has microfilm of New York passenger records to 1957. However, they have only been indexed on microfilm to 1948. They have been indexed online to 1957 (see link below)
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore 1820-1834 transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by by Michael H. Tepper; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982, reprinted 1999. (768 pages).
This book contains the names of about 50,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in Baltimore from 1820-1834, and indexes all of the available Baltimore lists for this period: the State Department Transcripts, Quarterly Abstracts and the surviving original lists. About 75% of the passengers were German, many of the rest were British or Irish. The book is available at many libraries or click on the title for ordering information.
Boston 1820-1943
A separate webpage has been set up for the port of Boston. This webpage lists Boston passenger records and indexes from 1820-1943, online and off. Included is a discussion of where to find the "missing" Boston passenger records from 1855-1856 & 1874-1883.
Galveston, Texas
A separate webpage has been set up for the port of Galveston...
- BOOK: Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia 1800-1819; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, edited by Michael H. Tepper; Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986. (913 pages)
This book contains the names of about 40,000 passengers (listed alphabetically) who arrived in Philadelphia from 1800-1819. Most of the passengers were from Great Britain (especially Northern Irleand) and Germany. The book is available in some libraries or it can be ordered from Amazon.com by clicking on the title.
Other Ports
- Various Ports (1820-1873): Miscellaneous Atlantic, Gulf Coast & Great Lakes Ports 1820-1873 (with links to indexes, online & off)
- Various Ports (1890s-1940s): Miscellaneous Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists 1890s-1940s
 Online index and digitized images of the passenger lists (requires payment) includes the following ports...
- Bridgeport, New Haven, and New London, Connecticut 1929-1959
- Gloucester, Massachusetts 1906-1942
- New Bedford, Massachusetts 1901-1942
- Portland, Maine 1893-1943 (plus 1 list from 1891)
- Providence, Rhode Island 1911-1943
- Savannah, Georgia 1906-1945
- Charleston, South Carolina Passenger Lists
- New Bedford, Massachusetts Index 1902-1954 (microfilm catalog numbers; includes passenger lists 1902-1942)
- Portland, Maine Index 1893-1954 (NARA & FHL Catalog Numbers; includes passenger lists 1893-1943)
- San Francisco, California Index to Passenger Lists 1893-1953
- Savannah, Georgia Passenger Lists 1906-1945 with index information
- Seattle, Tacoma & Port Townsend, Washington Passenger & Crew Lists 1882-1957
 online index and images (requires payment)
- Various Southern Ports: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina 1890-1924 (NARA & FHL Catalog Numbers)
- Smaller Ports: U.S. Ports of Entry and their Available Passenger Lists (includes many ports not listed here)
Don't Know Which Port?
If you don't know which port your ancestor arrived at try: Tips for Determining Your Ancestor's Port of Arrival in the US
Ancestry's Immigration Records Collection
- ONLINE DATABASE: Ancestry's Immigration Records Collection
 (requires payment) Includes ship passenger indexes (many with online digitized images from the microfilm) for New York (1820-1957), Boston (1820-1943), Baltimore (1820-1948), Philadelphia (1800-1945), New Orleans (1820-1945), San Francisco (1893-1953), and many smaller ports, plus some Canadian passenger lists and border crossings, and some US naturalization records.
Other Resources
- Supplementary Resource: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: a Guide to Published Arrival Records of...Passengers Who Came to the United States and Canada in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries; edited by P. William Filby; Published by Gale Research Co, Detroit, MI (1981-ongoing); Originally published in 3 volumes with annual supplements, these books index numerous sources (listed at the beginning of each volume) of some passenger arrivals, naturalizations and other immigrant resources. They are sometimes referred to as "the big Filby books" or PILI. They are carried in many libraries. You can also access this index by subscribing to Ancestry's Immigration Collection - see above.
- BOOK: Swedish Passenger Arrivals in the United States 1820-1850 by Nils William Olsson and Erik Wikén, published by Schmidts Boktryckeri AB, 1995; indexed
This well researched book documents about 5000 Swedish immigrants who came to the US from 1820-1850. Information given for each person includes age, sex, name of ship, date of arrival, and ports of arrival & departure. A brief bio is also given for many of the passengers or families.
- Passenger Lists Guide Book: They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Arrival Record; by John P. Colletta (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Third Edition, 2002) click on the title for ordering information from Amazon.com.
Where to Find Microfilm
- Any microfilm source marked "FHL" that is listed on this page and the connecting pages can be ordered from a Latter-day Saints (LDS) Family History Center -- use the microfilm roll numbers given. The books and microfilm can often be found in large libraries -- some you may be able to order through inter-library loan. Any item marked NARA can be found at NARA's main branch and some of the regional branches. Once you have located your ancestor(s) in one of these indexes you can then obtain a copy of the passenger list itself on microfilm. See... Microfilm Roll Numbers for Passenger Lists in the Family History Library Catalog & at the National Archives.
Basic Genealogy Research Tips & Using Census Records
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