Orange County, California Genealogy

United States &gt; California &gt; Orange County 

County Courthouse

 * Orange County California Government

The Courthouse is not a recommended source for Genealogical Data.

The County Recorder is where most vital record and land records are housed, but most of the vital records are now protected by California law, and the Recorder would be of little help.

For records prior to 1960:

Orange County Archives, Jean O. Pasco, Director Old Orange County Courthouse Room 101 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Santa Ana, California, 92701 (714) 834-2536

Family History Centers
Orange Large Multi-Stake Family History Center (Formerly Orange Regional Family History Center)

Located: 674 South Yorba St., Orange, California 92869 (Located in the rear of the LDS Church)

Hours: Tuesday -Thursday 9:00 AM-9:00 PM (except 2nd Thursday when we close at 7:00 PM for Staff Meeting) Friday &amp; Saturday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Closed Sunday and Monday to the Public

Closed the first two weeks of August; week of Thanksgiving; last two weeks of December. Phone: (714) 997-7710

Parent County
11 March 1889: Orange County was created from Los Angeles County. County seat: Santa Ana

Orange is the third largest county by population, preceeded by (1)Los Angeles and (2)San Diego Counties, according to the California State Association of Counties

Populated Places
Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, is the most populated city in Orange County. It was first settled by Germans in 1854 who named the city. It was incorporated in 1857. The name refers to the fact that it is the "home" of the Santa "Ana" River. The northern part of the county is heavily populated and the southern area is growing rapidly.

City of Aliso Viejo City of Anaheim City of Brea City of Buena Park City of Costa Mesa Coto de Caza - unincorporated City of Cypress City of Dana Point El Modena - unincorporated City of Fountain Valley City of Fullerton (incorporated 1904) City of Garden Grove City of Huntington Beach City of Irvine City of La Habra City of La Palma City of Laguna Beach

City of Laguna Hills

City of Laguna Niguel City of Laguna Woods (formerly Leisure World) La Jolla - unincorporated City of Lake Forest (formerly El Toro) http://www.city-lakeforest.com/ City of Los Alamitos http://www.ci.los-alamitos.ca.us/ City of Mission Viejo http://cityofmissionviejo.org/ City of Newport Beach http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/ City of Orange (incorporated 1888) http://www.cityoforange.org/ City of Placentia http://www.placentia.org/ City of Rancho Santa Margarita Rossmoor - unincorporated City of San Clemente http://san-clemente.org/sc/News.aspx?PageID=1 City of San Juan Capistrano http://www.sanjuancapistrano.org/ City of Santa Ana (founded 1869) http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/ City of Seal Beach http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us/ City of Stanton http://www.ci.stanton.ca.us/ City of Tustin http://www.tustinca.org/ City of Villa Park http://www.villapark.org/ City of Westminster http://www.ci.westminster.ca.us/ City of Yorba Linda http://www.ci.yorba-linda.ca.us/

Neighboring Counties

 * Los Angeles
 * Riverside
 * San Bernardino
 * San Diego

Archives and Libraries
For records prior to 1960:

Orange County Archives, Jean O. Pasco, Director Old Orange County Courthouse Room 101 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Santa Ana, CA, 92701 (714) 834-2536

Huntington Beach Central Library 7111 Talbert Ave Huntington Beach, CA 92648 Phone: (714) 842-4481, Ext. 2227 GENEALOGY DEPARTMENT The Library’s collection of over 18,000 genealogical books is maintained by the Orange County California Genealogical Society (OCCGS). The Genealogy collection is housed at the Central Library and is for reference use only (items cannot be checked out). The public is welcome to attend general membership meetings which are held the first Saturday of each month (except for June and December) at the Central Library. For more information, please visit http://www.occgs.com

Cemeteries
Many of these cemetery interments are recorded in FindaGrave and Interment.net.

The Orange County Cemtery District operates four formerly private cemeteries; Anaheim Cemtery, El Toro Memorial Park, Santa Ana Cemetery, Magnolia Memorial Park.

Catholic Diocese Cemeteries

The Orange Large Family History Center has two volumes of interment in these cemeteries as of 1999.

BillionGraves: Google maps, headstone photos, transcriptions:


 * Anaheim Cemetery, Anaheim
 * Holy Cross Cemetery, Anaheim
 * Melrose Abbey Cemetery, Anaheim
 * Mission Cemetery, San Juan Capistrano

Private Cemteries include:


 * Ascension Cemetery, 24754, Trabuco Road, Lake Forest, California


 * Crystal Cathedral Memorial Gardens, 12141 Lewis, Garden Grove, California


 * Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, St John's Lutheran Cemetery, 154 S. Shaffer St, Orange, California


 * Fairhaven Memorial Park, 1702 Fairhaven, Santa Ana, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 4471 Lincoln, Cypress, California


 * Good Shepherd, 8301 Talbert, Huntington Beach, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Harbor Lawn-Mount Olive Memorial Park, 1625 Gisler, Costa Mesa, California


 * Holy Cross Cemetery, Orange and Euclid, Anaheim, California


 * Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, 7845 E Santiago Canyon Rd, Orange, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Loma Vista Memorial Park, 701 E. Bastanchury, Fullerton, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Masonic Cemetery, 505 N. Sycamore, Santa Ana, California


 * Melrose Abby Memorial Park, 2303 S. Manchester, Anaheim, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Memory Garden Memorial Park, 455 W. Central, Brea, California Partial interments at Interment.net


 * Oakdale Memorial Park, 517 N. Main St, Santa Ana, California


 * Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View, Costa Mesa, California


 * Roselawn Gardens of Memory, 17952 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, California


 * San Juan Capistrano Mission Cemetery, San Juan Capistrano, California


 * St John's Lutheran Cemetery, 2009 Santa Clara Ave, Santa Ana, California, and 16782 Fairhaven, Santa Ana, California


 * Westminster Cemetery, 12241 Magnolia St, Garden Grove, California


 * Westminster Memorial Park, 14801 Beach Blvd, Westminster, California


 * Yorba Cemetery, Esperanza and Fairmaon Blvd, Yorba Linda, California

Church History and Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Anaheim
 * Cypress
 * Garden Grove
 * Huntington Beach
 * Laguna Beach
 * Laguna Niguel
 * Mission Viejo
 * Newport Beach
 * Orange Regional (714) 997 7710

Court History and Records
The main courthouse is at 700 Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana, California. There are three branch courts but even more locations. North Court is in Fullerton. West Court is in Westminster. Harbor Court has locations in Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills. The Lamoreaux Justice Center is in Orange.

History
The greatest repositories of Local Histories are at the Orange Large Family History Center, 674 South Yorba, Orange, California, and the collection of the Orange County Genealogical Society, located at the Huntington Beach Public Library, 7111 Talbert Avenue, Huntington Beach, California. Also noted is the Orange Public Library and History Center, 407 East Chapman Avenue, Orange, California (714) 288-2400


 * The History of Orange County California with Bigraphical Sketches; Samuel Armour, supervising Editor; Historic Record Company,Los Angeles, CA, 1911 (FHL US/CAN Film 1000115 Item 1)
 * History of Orange County California; Mrs. J.E. Pleasants; J.R. Finnell &amp; Sons Publishing Co, Los Angeles, CA; 1931 (FHL US/CAN Fiche 6209824 )

Newspapers
The County is served by the Orange County Register and the Orange County edition of the Los Angeles Times. The Orange Family History Center has a collection of Microfilmed L.A. Times archives (incomplete) and there are additional collections at the University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton

There are many community based newspapers as well.

Vital Records
Guidelines For Ordering Vital Records to visit the County site for vital records

Due to identity theft, California Law now restricts vital records access to immediate family. The Orange Regional Family History Center has access to state-wide databases of Births, Deaths, Marriages and voter registrations. These were compiled before the change in California law, and are not complete. Birth is available to 1986 Death to 1993 Voter registration to 1993 There are also marriage records available at The Western States Marriages at Brigham Young University-Idaho

Voter Registration
1890: The California 1890 Great Register of Voters Index, compiled by the California State Genealogical Alliance, is available at the Orange Large Family History Center

Also available on fiche at the same location are:


 * 1993 Orange County Voters Index
 * 1996 Orange County Voters Index
 * 1981-1982 Ownership Index
 * 1989-1990 Address Register
 * 1991-1992 California Property Owners

Societies, Libraries and Museums

 * Orange County California Genealogical Society
 * Genealogical Society of North Orange County, California
 * South Orange County California Genealogical Society
 * Orange Large Family History Center
 * Native American Institute

FamilyHistory Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Anaheim California Family History Center
 * Cypress California Family History Center
 * El Toro California FM Group
 * Garden Grove California Family History Center (Westminister)
 * Huntington Beach California Family History Center
 * Huntington Beach California North Family History Center
 * Irvine California Family History Center
 * Laguna Niguel California Family History Center (Aliso Viejo)
 * Mission Viejo California Family History Center
 * Newport Beach California Family History Center
 * Orange California Family History Center
 * Orange California Large Multi-stake Family History Center
 * Santa Margarita California Family History Center (Rancho Santa Margarita)

Websites

 * Orange County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site