Yoakum County, Texas Genealogy

Guide to Yoakum County Texas ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Texas Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for Henderson King Yoakum, a Texas historian. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Yoakum County Courthouse PO Box 309 Plains, TX 79355 Phone: 806.456.2721 County Clerk has birth records from 1878, marriage and death records from 1908, pro rec from 1907, court records from 1930 and land records from 1898; District Clerk has divorec records

County Clerk

P.O. Box 309 Plains 79355 Phone: 806-456-7491 (Ext: 3) Fax: 806-456-2258

District Clerk

P.O. Box 899 Plains 79355 Phone: 806-456-7491 (Ext: 297) Fax: 806-456-8767

Parent County
1876--Yoakum County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District.
 * County seat: Plains

Record Loss
1926--Yoakum County Courthouse destroyed by fire in December 1926. All county records were stored in a vault and were saved.

Places / Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



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:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Neighboring Counties
Cochran •  Gaines  •  Hockley  •  Lea County, New Mexico  •  Terry

African American

 * 1865 - 1870 (images) - FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Additional Cemetery Sources


 * Texas Historic Cemeteries
 * African American Cemeteries Online ~ Partial index/transcriptions of African American cemeteries
 * Texas Escapes Listing of Texas cemeteries with transcriptions and lots of pictures.

Census

 * 1850-1930 US GenWeb Census Project Texas 1850 - 1930

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Texas Christian Church Directory~ ChurchAngel
 * Catholic Parishes in Texas
 * FamilySearch Places

Local Histories

 * Yoakum County Memories
 * Yoakum County Historical Markers

Maps

 * 1902 Yoakum County from Historic Map Works
 * 1940 Yoakum County General Highway Map
 * 1961 Yoakum County General Highway Map
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military

 * 1838 - 1900 Texas Muster Roll Index Cards 1838-1900 at Ancestry — index and images $

Mexican-American War

 * 1845 - 1848 US American Volunteer Soldiers Mexican War 1845-1848 at Ancestry — index $

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch — index
 * Confederate Pension Applications ~ Texas State Library and Archives Commission

World War I

 * 1917 - 1920 at FamilySearch — index and images

World War II

 * Yoakum County WWII Casualties

Newspapers

 * w3newspapers -  Texas Newspaper Index with links
 * Newslink -  Texas Newspaper List (sorted by publication frequency)
 * The Olden Times  -   Historic Texas News Online
 * Texas Digital Newspaper Program at The Portal to Texas History

Obituaries

 * USGenWeb Archives Obituary Project ~  Texas
 * Afrigeneas ~ African American death notices, obituaries and funeral programs compiled by users from current newspapers and historical sources
 * Obituary Daily Times ~ Citations to over 15,000,000 obituaries including interactive search function

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1800 – 1990 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records ~ Ancestry.com (subscription)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Taxation

 * 1846-1910 Texas, County Tax Rolls 1846-1910 at Findmypast ($) — index and images

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1903 - 1935 (images and index) - FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1903 - 1997 (index only) - FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1926-1995 Texas Births, 1926 - 1995 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1802-2010 Texas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 Texas Marriage Collection 1814-1909 and 1966-2011 at Ancestry — index $
 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1837-1973 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1837-1977 Texas Select County Marriage Index 1837-1977 at Ancestry — index $
 * 1966 - 2010 - FamilySearch record collection - How to Use this Collection
 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 1890-1976 Name index and images of statewide death certificates, 1890-1976. The name index has been created by Family Search and is tied to images of the Texas death certificates. Few certificates are available prior to 1903.
 * 1903-1973 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1903-1982 Texas Death Certificates 1903-1982 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1903 - 2000 (index) - FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1964 - 1998 (no images) - How to Use this Collection Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
 * 1977-1986 at FamilySearch.org — index

Divorce

 * 1966-2016 Texas Marriages and Divorces at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1968-2010 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1968-2011 Texas Divorces 1968-2011 at Ancestry — index $

Societies and Libraries
Yoakum County/Cecil Bickley Library 205 W 4th St Denver City, TX 79323 Telephone Number: 806-592-2754 Website

Yoakum County Library 910 Ave E Plains, TX 79355 Telephone Number: 806-456-8725 Website

Yoakum County Historical Commission Box 960 Plains, TX 79355 Website

FamilySearch Centers

 * Big Spring Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Hobbs New Mexico FamilySearch Center
 * Lubbock Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Roswell New Mexico FamilySearch Center
 * Seminole Texas FamilySearch Center
 * Snyder Texas FamilySearch Center

Websites

 * Yoakum County TXGenWeb
 * TXGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the county.
 * USGenWeb Texas Archives Vital statistics, maps, obituaries, Bible records, tombstone transcriptions and many other records.
 * — The catalog is genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) This catalog is different than the indexed Historical Records.