Genealogy in Hauts-de-Seine (92): archives, history, origins
Genealogy cheat sheet - All useful and free links to help you find your ancestors in the Hauts-de-Seine department
©️Cartorum
updated: February 24, 2025
The Hauts-de-Seine department, located in the Île-de-France region, is a territory rich in history and heritage, offering genealogists a multitude of resources to trace family history.
Created in 1968 from parts of the former departments of Seine and Seine-et-Oise, Hauts-de-Seine now includes 36 municipalities, including Nanterre, the prefecture, as well as emblematic cities like Boulogne-Billancourt, Courbevoie, and Sceaux.
Its inhabitants are called Altoséquanais. The department is bordered by the departments of the Seine-Saint-Denis, the Val-d'Oise, the Yvelines, the Essonne, and the Val-de-Marne.
The origins of the territory date back to Prehistory, with traces of human occupation as early as the Neolithic era. In the Middle Ages, several current municipalities of Hauts-de-Seine were already mentioned in historical documents (like Sceaux, for example). The region has gone through the centuries as the stage for major events, notably during the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution.
📁 Archives in Hauts-de-Seine
Departmental archives of Hauts-de-Seine
Visit the Departmental Archives of Hauts-de-Seine:
📍137 avenue Frédéric-et-Irène-Joliot-Curie, 92000 Nanterre
Contact the Departmental Archives of Hauts-de-Seine:
📞 01 41 37 11 02
📧 archivesdepartementales@hauts-de-seine.fr
Consult the digitized archives of Hauts-de-Seine, thanks to our quick links:
Municipal archives in Hauts-de-Seine
Several town halls provide digitized municipal archives, this is the case for the cities of:
Online records
Unusual records
🏃 Migrations in Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine have been and remain a territory of multiple migrations. These movements have helped shape the demographic and cultural landscape of the department:
- Pre-industrial period : before the 19th century, migratory movements to and from the territory corresponding to present-day Hauts-de-Seine were mainly internal and of limited scope.
In the 1700s, the territory that now forms the department of Hauts-de-Seine was mostly made up of small villages, fields and cereals, and vineyards. Its inhabitants lived off agriculture and ceramics, with the National Manufacture of Vincennes founded in 1740 (and moved to Sèvres in 1756) at the initiative of Madame de Pompadour.
Movements were often linked to economic or family reasons, with inhabitants from neighboring rural regions coming to settle in the villages to engage in agricultural or artisan activities.
- Early 19th century : after the Restoration, the territory experienced significant industrial development, attracting many workers and families. At the same time, the city of Nanterre had many artisans, rentiers, and farmers.
This transformation attracted a large workforce, notably from French provinces and neighboring countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland. Industrial cities like Gennevilliers saw their population increase significantly due to the installation of factories and transportation infrastructure. This period was marked by significant internal migration, with workers from rural French regions settling in rapidly expanding urban areas.
- Interwar period : after World War I, France faced a labor shortage. To rebuild the country, the government encouraged the immigration of foreign workers. The Hauts-de-Seine, in full industrialization, welcomed many workers from Italy, Poland, Spain, and Portugal. This period also saw the arrival of political refugees fleeing authoritarian regimes in Europe.
- After World War II: post-war reconstruction in France required a new wave of labor. The Thirty Glorious Years (1945-1975) were characterized by strong economic growth, leading to increased demand for workers. The Hauts-de-Seine attracted migrants from France's former colonies, notably Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Communities settled in shantytowns, like the one in Nanterre, where in 1960, the Seine prefecture counted about 7,000 Algerians spread across about ten shantytowns.
Meanwhile, Portuguese and Spanish workers also settled in the department, fleeing the economic and political conditions in their home countries.
For more information:
🏛️ Hauts-de-Seine in images
Videos
Old images and postcards
Old maps of the department
📆 The history of Hauts-de-Seine
The books, the press and the manuscripts on the department of Hauts-de-Seine
🗃️ Genealogy sites in Hauts-de-Seine
Genealogy circles and associations in Hauts-de-Seine and surrounding areas
Useful social networks
Happy searching!
🤝 Your ancestors are waiting for you on Geneafinder, start or import your genealogy tree now
🌳 Quick and free registration - learn more
