Columbia County, Oregon Genealogy

Guide to Columbia County, Oregon ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records. 

Description
The County was named for the Columbia River. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage records from 1890, divorce and court records from 1854 and probate records from 1880.

Records Held at the Courthouse

 * County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Columbia County Court House as of May 2005.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Oregon, Columbia County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Quick Facts
Named for the Columbia River, which forms the northern and eastern boundaries.

Parent County
16 January 1854: from Washington County.

Boundary Changes

 * No parts were taken to create any county.

For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator

The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Clatsop | Multnomah | Tillamook | Washington | Washington counties: Cowlitz | Clark | Wahkiakum

Cemeteries
For a detailed list, including addresses, phone numbers, and external links, see Columbia County, Oregon Cemeteries.


 * Oregon Department of Transportation 1978 Cemetery Survey
 * Cemeteries managed by the city of Clatskanie
 * Rainier Cemetery District
 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Territorial and State Census Records (Extant)

 * 1845 (as part of Tuality County, aka Twality or Twalitain)
 * 1849 (as part of Tuality County, aka Twality or Twalitain)
 * 1853 (as part of Washington County)
 * 1865

Federal Census Records (Extant)

 * 1850
 * 1860
 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Land and Property
Wiki articles describing land records online are found at Oregon, Columbia County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index

World War I

 * 1919-1920 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1938 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
[Https://sites.google.com/site/onlinenewspapersite/Home/usa/or Oregon Online Historical Newspapers] - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Historic Oregon Newspapers as a division of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program has digitzied more than 644,000 pages of newspapers throughout Oregon. Dates range from 1846-1922 with selected issues continuing through 1973.

Of particular interest to Columbia County researchers:

The Columbia Register (Houlton) The Columbian (St. Helens) The Oregon Mist (St. Helens)

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Vital Records
See also How to order Oregon Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Birth Records

 * 1860 - 1952 - at FamilySearch — index

Delayed Birth Certificates

Birth Registers

Marriage Records

 * 1) 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 2) Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
 * 3) Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums
Columbia Gorge Genealogy Society 722 Court Street The Dalles 97058 Website


 * Historical Society of Columbia County
 * Saint Helens Historic Courthouse Museum

Family History Centers

 * Rainier Oregon Family History Center 27410 Parkdale Rd. Rainier 97048 United States Location Map
 * St Helens Oregon Family History Center2755 Sykes Rd St Helens OR 97051 United States Location Map
 * Vernonia Oregon Family History Center1350 East Knott Street Vernonia, OR 97064-9711 United States Location Map

Websites

 * Columbia County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Columbia County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project (backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Columbia County
 * The Columbia County Historian compiled by Christopher and Larry Rea
 * Oregon, Columbia County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records