Research Center Helps Residents Learn About Family History

SANDERSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Have you ever wanted to know more about your past, but did not know where to look? There is a place here in Middle Georgia where you can become a genealogy detective to learn more about your family history.

Paula Byran wants to know more about her great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Colby Smith. She went to the Genealogy Research Center in Sandersville to get some answers.

“Most people that do this, it’s a personal search,” she said. “I think everyone wants to find out who they really are.”

Hundreds of people from all over the globe visit the center every year. They spend hours pouring over old records to find any kind of lead that could shed some light some light on their past.

“We have many family histories and those family histories you can’t find any place else in the United States,” Loretta Cato with the Genealogy Research Center said.

Washington County used to be one of the largest counties in the Peach State. Cato says that means many people can trace their family history back to Middle Georgia.

“They come and they look on the maps, they find where their families lived,” Cato said. “They go to the cemeteries, the churches and if they can, they find the plot where the house was built.”

Researching her family’s history has been an ongoing effort for Paula. She says sometimes she runs into dead ends, but it doesn’t stop her from finding out the truth.

“If you loved history and loved research in high school, then this is just a continuation but its never an ending thing,” she said. “It never ends because you always see another door come open.”

Click here to find out more information on the Genealogy Research Center and learn how can become a genealogy detective.