Mono County, California Genealogy

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

County Courthouse


Mono County Courthouse Bryant Annex 2 PO Box 537 Bridgeport CA 93517 Phone: 760.932.5241

County Clerk has birth, marriage records from 1861, death burial, divorce, probate and land land rec from 1900

Parent County
24 April 1861: Mono County was created from Siskiyou County. County seat: Bridgeport

Description
The county was named for a Native American Paiute tribe that inhabited the Sierra Nevada from north of Mono Lake to Owens Lake. The county seat Bridgeport and the county was created 1861. The County is located in the east central area of the state.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

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

Indian Reservations
The Benton Paiute Indian Reservation is located in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Alpine
 * Douglas County, Nevada
 * Esmeralda County, Nevada
 * Fresno
 * Inyo
 * Lyon County, Nevada
 * Madera
 * Mineral County, Nevada
 * Tuolumne

Biography

 * Mono County Biographies (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Mono County, Eclectic Collection (CAGenWeb Project)

Cemeteries
The following web sites may have additional information on Mono  County cemeteries.


 * Interment.net California cemetery records by County.


 * 1850 - 1960 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Native Americans

 * 1905 - 1906 - Census of Non-reservation California Indians, 1905-1906 by Charles E. Kelsey; Robert F. Heizer, ed. CAGenWeb Project

Land and Property

 * Mono County, Index to Federal Land Patents (USGenWeb Archives)

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)



Migration
Early migration routes to and from for emigrant settlers included:


 * California Trail 1844 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California


 * Carson (River) Trail 1848 (aka Mormon Emigrant Trail) crossed the Forty Mile Desert past the west side of the Carson Sink to pick up the Carson River near Fallon, Nevada up to Hope Valley and Red Lake. The Devil's Ladder then climbed 700 feet (210 m) in half a mile so ropes, chains, and pulleys were required to lift the wagons. Carson Pass was followed by the relatively easy West Pass (Kirkwood, California) and then on to Pollock Pines, Placerville, and Sutter's Fort, California


 * Sonora Road 1852-1854 from the Carson Trail south to the Walker River along the base of the Sierra Nevada until it ascends to Sonora Pass and then down to Strawberry and Sonora, California

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1782 – 1999 California Wills and Probate Records 1782-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1833 – 1991 at FamilySearch — images

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

Marriage

 * 1850 - 1952 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1854 - 1885 - Western States Marriage Index.
 * 1960 - 1985 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries
Mono County Historical Society P. O. Box 417 Bridgeport, CA 93517


 * List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Websites

 * Mono County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * California Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Mono County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site