Custer County, Idaho Genealogy

United States &gt; Idaho &gt; Custer County

County Courthouse
The Custer County courthouse is located in Challis.

Parent County
8 January 1881: Custer County was created from Alturas and Lemhi Counties.

Places/Localities
The following list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

This list of places in Custer County, Idaho was compiled from the Lists of Places in Idaho in Wikipedia and from the map of Custer County in Virtual Earth.

Cities
Challis | Mackay | Stanley

Other inhabited places
Bayhorse | Bonanza | Casto | Chilly | Clayton | Cliff | Custer | Dickey | Ellis | Goldburg | Grouse | Houston | Leslie | Lost River | Lower Stanley | Obsidian | Redfish Lake | Robinson Bar | Sunbeam | Torreys

Neighboring Counties
Blaine | Boise | Butte | Elmore | Lemhi | Valley

Resources
Many of the older court, land, naturalization, probate, pension, and vital records for Custer County have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and through their family history centers. They are also available at the Idaho State Historical Society's Library in Boise. Details of the county records in these respective institutions can be obtained from their online catalogs or listings. Original records which have been microfilmed and more recent records are in the county courthouse in Challis.

Cemeteries
The following cemeteries of Custer County have some records in the Idaho State Historical Society Public Archives and Research Library:


 * Battleground Cemetery (memorial marker) - about 10 m N of Mackay
 * Bay Horse Cemetery - Bay Horse
 * Bonanza Cemetery - about 5 m up-canyon from Bonanza
 * Boothill Cemetery - about 5 m up-canyon from Bonanza
 * Challis Cemetery - Challis
 * Clayton Cemetery - Clayton
 * Custer Cemetery (3 graves) - 1.3 m above Custer, W side of road
 * Houston Cemetery - near Mackay, SW side of valley
 * Ivers Cemetery - Ivers, near Loon Creek and Lost Packer Mine
 * Mount McCaleb Cemetery - W of Mackay
 * Old Barton Cemetery - N of Mackay, Alt Hwy 93, behind fish hatchery
 * Stanley Cemetery - Stanley

Census
For a summary of census records for the state of Idaho, see Idaho Census Records.

The 1890 federal census for Idaho was destroyed. However, the Idaho State Historical Society Public Archives and Research Library is creating a list of 1890 Idaho residents by indexing a variety of records, 1885-1894. This reconstructed list will substitute for the destroyed 1890 federal census. Custer County is included in this reconstructed census.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)
The following are local congregations (wards) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which existed in Custer County, Idaho prior to 1950. Many of the original records of these church units are in the Historical Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the membership records covering these units from the date of their creation to about 1948 have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.


 * Challis
 * Chilly
 * Leslie
 * McKay

Maps

 * An 1895 map of Ada and surrounding counties is available online.
 * A digital Custer County Idaho map is available online.
 * Map of Custer County, Idaho is available online.

Military
World War I draft registration cards, 1917-1918, for Custer County have been microfilmed. Copies of these records are available at the Family History Library (their microfilm number 1452214) and are also available online at Ancestry.com, for a subscription fee. The original cards are maintained in the Southeast Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in East Point, Georgia and have been microfilmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M1509.

Current

 * Challis Messenger

Web Sites

 * The Custer County Idaho GenWeb Project, a member of The IDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
 * Family History Library Catalog