14.  US GenWeb

The US GenWeb project focuses on the states and counties within those states. Run by a network of volunteers across the country who find and submit records to the appropriate areas of the site, you can search for original records, town histories, and individual biographies of the people who lived in these areas. Go to the main site to search by state, and from the state page, you can search by county (if you know your ancestor’s county). There are a lot of records here you won’t find anywhere else. It’s also completely free to use.