Kern County, California Genealogy

United States California Kern County

Guide to Kern County California genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Kern County Courthouse 1655 Chester Ave Bakersfield, CA 93301; Phone 661.868.6440

County Clerk Recorder has birth, marriage, death and land records from 1850 divorce, probate court and voting record from 1866; An exchange of territory with San Bernardino Co took place in 1963

Parent Counties
2 April 1866: Kern County was created from Los Angeles and Tulare Counties. County seat: Bakersfield

Boundary Changes
"Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Neighboring Counties

 * Inyo
 * Kings
 * Los Angeles
 * Monterey
 * San Bernardino
 * San Luis Obispo
 * Santa Barbara
 * Tulare
 * Ventura

Church History and Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Bakersfield

Newspapers

 * Bakersfield Californian- 2700+ issues of the paper digitized and in the Google News Archive; covers 1907-1949.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Bakersfield California Family History Center
 * Bakersfield California East Family History Center
 * Bakersfield California South Family History Center
 * Delano California Family History Center
 * Frazier Park California Family History Center
 * Kern Valley California Family History Center (Mountain Mesa)
 * North Edwards California Family History Center
 * Taft California Family History Center
 * Tehachapi California Family History Center
 * Wasco California Family History Center

Marriage
Many early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index.

Websites

 * Kern County CAGenWeb
 * Kern County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy (Familytree101)
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site