Genealogy in Val-de-Marne (94): the guide to find your ancestors

Genealogy cheat sheet - Useful resources to trace the life of your ancestors from Val-de-Marne: online archives, maps, stories, and more...

©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse

updated: January 8, 2025

Val-de-Marne, a French department located southeast of Paris, was created on January 1, 1968, as part of the territorial reorganization of the Île-de-France region. It results from the merger of 29 communes from the former department of Seine and 18 communes from Seine-et-Oise. It is bordered by the departments of Seine-Saint-Denis of Seine-et-Marne, of Essonne, of Hauts-de-Seine and of Paris.

This territory, rich in history, has seen its landscape evolve due to industrialization in the 19th century, with the development of railways and the establishment of various industries.

📁 Archives in Val-de-Marne

Departmental Archives of Val-de-Marne

Visit the Departmental Archives of Val-de-Marne:

📍 10 rue des Archives, 94054 Créteil

Contact the Departmental Archives of Val-de-Marne:

📞 01 56 71 45 60

📧  Contact Val-de-Marne Archives

Digitized Departmental Archives Online

Browse the digitized archives available online to search for your ancestors: 

• Civil records (before 1922)
• Census
• Napoleonic cadastre
• Alphabetical tables of successions
• Local press
• Iconography
• Penitentiaries
• Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort (ENVA)
• Manuscript of Lieutenant Najean on the battles of the Marne
• Lemarchand Fund: collection of documents related to World War II

Municipal Archives in Val-de-Marne

Consult the civil records of the commune of Vitry-sur-Seine (1792-1910) directly on the site of the Municipal Archives of Vitry-sur-Seine.

Online Records

• On FranceGenWeb:  "Actes en vrac" - Migrant marriages - Migrant marriages from Val-de-Marne - Notaries - Protestants
• Val-de-Marne Genealogy
• Parish registers of Rungis
• Pages of the Vergez family

Unusual Records

• Unusual testimonies in the archives of Val-de-Marne

🌍 Migrations in Val-de-Marne

Val-de-Marne, a department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, has experienced significant migratory movements over the centuries that have shaped its demography and cultural identity:

• Middle Ages and Ancient Regime: from the Middle Ages, the territory of present-day Val-de-Marne hosted diverse populations, attracted by the proximity to Paris and the economic opportunities it could offer. Commercial exchanges and movements related to fairs and markets facilitated the settlement of families from different regions of France.

• 19th Century: industrialization transformed the landscape of Val-de-Marne. The construction of railway lines to Vitry-sur-Seine (first line in 1839, Paris-Orléans), and the establishment of factories (such as the aluminum foundry in Fontenay-sous-Bois, the hardware store in Ivry-sur-Seine, the anise distillery in Arcueil, the tannery and leather goods in Choisy-le-Roi, and the chemical and penicillin factory) attracted a large workforce, mainly from the French countryside.
  
  Also, along the Seine, many inhabitants of the department worked as mariners, dredgers, or tugboat captains.
  
  Between 1840 and 1880, the population multiplied by six, from 50,000 to approximately 300,000 inhabitants. This growth continued until 1936, reaching 685,000 inhabitants, two-thirds of whom lived in urban areas.

• First half of the 20th Century: the two world wars of the 20th century led to population movements related to mobilization, destruction, and reconstruction. After World War I, Val-de-Marne became a major industrial center, requiring a large workforce to support the war effort and reconstruction.

• Thirty Glorious Years: the period of the Thirty Glorious Years was marked by strong economic growth and rapid urbanization. Val-de-Marne experienced a demographic boom above the national average, with a significant increase in its population.
  
  This growth was fueled by the arrival of foreign populations, particularly from Portugal. With nearly 83,000 Portuguese, the department became the leading historical department for Portuguese immigration in France.

For more information: 

• Stories and influences of migrations in Val-de-Marne
• History of the Portuguese in Val-de-Marne
• 1880-1945: from the Belle Époque to the beginnings of the "Great Acceleration"

🏞️ Val-de-Marne in pictures

Videos

• French aeronautics: Orly Airport – 1953
• Visit to Abbé Pierre's works – 1954
• Les Halles in Rungis – 1964
• The housing projects of Créteil, the new face of the city – 1964
• The housing projects of Créteil – 1964
• They found an apartment – 1965
• The Olympic flame crosses Val-de-Marne and Seine-et-Marne – 1967
• Guided tour of the new housing projects in Val-de-Marne – 1968
• Floods in the Paris region – 1968
• The call of the deep – 1970
• Les Halles yesterday and today – 1976
• Immigrants Vitry – 1980
• Immigrants in France + Vitry hostel – 1980
• Memory of the century: Villeneuve St Georges 94
• Memory of the century: Fontenay sous Bois 94
• Memory of the century: Champigny sur Marne 94
• Memory of the century: Maisons Alfort 94
• Memory of the century: Orly 94
• Memory of the century: Créteil 94
• Val de Marne Anthology 1964 - 2014 - History of a department
• The creation of Val-de-Marne through its archives: from the genesis of a decision to its official birth

Old images and postcards

• On Gallica: Val-de-Marne in pictures
• On Clochers de France: the belfries of Val-de-Marne in pictures
• On Mémorial GenWeb: postcards of the war memorials
• Collection of old postcards of Val-de-Marne
• Postcards of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés

Old maps of the department

• From Cassini villages to today's communes: the department of Val-de-Marne
• On Old Maps Online: old maps of the department
• On Gallica: old maps of Val-de-Marne

📄 The history of Val-de-Marne

• The history of Val-de-Marne
• Where do people marry, where do they die? Marginal notes in Val-de-Marne and Paris 
• A rural world: the countryside of eastern Paris from the 6th to the 12th century 
• The southeast suburbs of Paris in the 18th and 19th centuries
• Val-de-Marne. Discovery of an ancient grain measure in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés

On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the Val-de-Marne department

🗺️ Genealogy sites in Val-de-Marne

Genealogy circles and associations in Val-de-Marne

• Genealogy – Val-de-Marne
• Maison-Alfort Genealogy Circle
• Records of watermen in Val-de-Marne

Accounts to follow on social media

• Facebook : Val-de-Marne Archives
• Twitter : Val-de-Marne Archives

Happy researching! 

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