The search for vital records in Virginia depends a great deal on the time period you are researching. Virginia required registration of births, marriages and deaths from 1853 to 1896. No state registration was required from 1896 to 1912, but some counties and cities continued to collect information. Luckily, Warwick County and the city of Newport News are among those that did. Registrations were again required at the state level beginning in 1912. The following information will tell you where to find vital records for each of these time periods.

1853-1896

You have some options for this time period.

1.  The Virginia Department of Health - Office of Vital Records.

2.  We have the following registers on microfilm for you to come look at in the Virginiana Room:

3.  All counties and cities for this time period are available within Virginia through interlibrary loan from the Library of Virginia at no cost. If you want to request an interlibrary loan through us, you need to have a Newport News library card.

DRIP (Death Records Indexing Project) - sponsored by the
Virginia Genealogical Society and made available online via the Library of Virginia's Digital Library Program.  This project is still in process - but there are several counties already available.  Check it out!

1896-1912

For 1896-1912 births, marriages and deaths in Warwick County and city of Newport News contact:

                      Newport News Health Department
                      Vital Statistics & Records              
                      416 J. Clyde Morris Blvd.        
                      Newport News, VA  23601 
                      Phone:  (757) 594-7314                     

1912 to Present

Birth, marriage and death records from 1912 to the present and divorce records from 1918 to the present are available from the Virginia Department of Health - Office of Vital Records.  BE AWARE that by law birth records of the last 100 years are available to immediate family members only, and death, marriage & divorce records are only available 50 years after the event. Contact the Virginia Department of Health for current costs to obtain records.