Genealogical site honored

Cook County Genealogy Online has been named a "Best Website" by Family Tree Magazine, the country's largest magazine for ancestry enthusiasts.

Launched July 1, 2008 by Cook County Clerk David Orr, CookCountyGenealogy.com has an online index of 8 million genealogy records, and more are being added as they meet the age requirements and as the staff can index harder-to-read older documents.

Illinois statute defines genealogical records as birth records older than 75 years, marriage records older than 50 years and death records older than 20 years.

The index is available free; the fee is $15 per record to download and print records.

The cost of CookCountyGenealogy.com was repaid through sales in just four months, the office said, and to date, the website has sold about 63,000 records totaling nearly $950,000.

More than 100,000 users from dozens of countries have created accounts, and the website has drawn 3.3 million hits.

"CookCountyGenealogy.com has exceeded our expectations and is now a profit center for our office," Orr said. The site also won a 2009 National Association of Counties Achievement Award.