All naturalizations filed in Pennsylvania prior to 1790 occurred in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and are located in the Pennsylvania State Archives

The Philadelphia City Archives has declarations of intention and petitions for naturalization which were filed in the city and county courts only between 1790 and 1930.

The Division of Archives and Manuscripts of The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, located in the William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building in Harrisburg, has the official lists fo aliens naturalized by Pennsylvania Courts, 1740-1773.

Records pertaining to names of those naturalized in Pennsylvania by special and private acts are found in COLONIAL RECORDS (vol. 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10), THE STATUTES AT LARGE OF PENNSYLVANIA (vol. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8), and PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES (Series 1, Vol. 1, 3, and 4). These volumes are readily available in historical and genealogical collections in libraries throughout Pennsylvania. Outside of Pennsylvania the volumes are generally found only in the larger public and state libraries.

Early provincial and state records can be found in the published "Pennsylvania Archives" series. Naturalizations through the county court are held in the courthouse records and many are being published. Federal court naturalizations and their indexes are available on microfilm. Early "oaths of allegiance" required of many "foreign" immigrants are in published form. Since Philadelphia was a center for immigration, numerous oaths and naturalizations of persons who later moved westward may be found there.

County naturalizations are often held in the office of the "prothonotary" who is simply a county official who functions as a clerk of courts.

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