StLGS Congregations Index Pages Now Include Maps to Locate Churches and Synagogues

More maps for our website! Yes, we have spent a lot of time and energy recently on maps, but they are so incredibly valuable for genealogists, that we feel it’s worth devoting more than the usual amount of attention to them. During this past week, our map guru/technology volunteer, Jim Bellenger, uploaded a whole series of locator maps for all of our congregation indexes! That’s right––now you can click on a link and go to an exact location for every church and synagogue for which we have an address in our indexes.

Here's how it works. We have indexes for Baptist, Catholic, closed Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ (UCC) churches and Jewish synagogues on our website as part of our Congregations Project. Each of the links below will take you to our website where the linked page contains a map at the top. The maps are very large, so the page may take a few seconds longer to come up on your computer, and, depending on how many congregations are in the index, the center of the map may appear like a large blob of nondescript color, but don't worry. You can enlarge the maps easily by using the "Map Help" (see below).

Under each map is the index of congregations. The maps are snippets from Google maps, so they are modern and do contain the usual Google labels, like restaurants, businesses, landmarks, etc. Underneath each map is the appropriate index, and under that is a set of directions for how to best use the map.

Start with the "Map Help"

To get started, roll down to the bottom of your chosen page and read the "Map Help" section, which will guide you through the steps to enlarge the map, enter and leave full screen, and, most importantly, use the icons to navigate directly to pages on the website.

The Index Pages

You can start on the Congregations Page to read about what we have. Then, use the links in the box on the right side of the page, OR you can go directly to the index for each religion:

Baptist: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/baptist/baptist-churches

Catholic: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/catholic/catholic-churches

Closed Catholic: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/catholic/closed-catholic-churches

Episcopal: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/episcopal/episcopal-churches

Jewish: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/jewish/jewish-synagogues-and-temples

Lutheran: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/lutheran/lutheran-churches

Methodist: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/methodist/methodist-churches

Presbyterian: https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/presbyterian/presbyterian-churches

UCC (including Evangelical and Congregational): https://stlgs.org/research-2/congregations/ucc/ucc-churches

How You Can Help

Jim has located as closely as possible every address where each church or synagogue has existed, so you will see multiple icons with the same name. As we add congregations, he will update the maps. If your church or synagogue has no link, please check with us on its status. Some are still in the process of indexing, but many need someone to contact a person in charge to see if they would be willing to share their records with StLGS. We invite you to help us to expand this project, if you can!

Access more information and a downloadable flyer with information you can share with your church/synagogue on our Congregations page. As we said above, this is also the jumping-off point for all of the congregations indexes.

We have tested the links as we have been working on them, but because there are so many, if you find a link that is broken or doesn't work properly, please send an email to Jim Bellenger at technology@stlgs.org. Be sure to include the page URL and the exact name of the link that isn't working so Jim can get it repaired. Thank you!