Lane County, Oregon Genealogy

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

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Description
Lane County was named for Joseph Lane, Oregon's first territorial governor. The county is located in the west-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Lane County Courthouse 125 East 8th Eugene, Or 97630 Phone: 541-682-4234 Deeds and Records Archives has marriage, land, military and naturalization records from 1855. Court Archives has probate and divorce records. Clerk Circuit Court has court records.

Lane County Courthouse for additional information about some addresses and records.

Lane County Information
Lane County's civil records start the following years:

Historical Facts


Named for, the first governor of Oregon Territory.

Boundary Changes
28 January 1851: Lane county was created from Linn (Non-County Area 3) and Umpqua (Non-County Area 4) Counties. (Source: Newberry Library) 11 January 1854: Part was taken to form Wasco 07 January 1852: Lost small area to creation of Douglas. (Ore. Terr. Laws 1851, 3rd reg. sess., p. 18)  22 December 1853: Gained from Umpqua (extinct); gained from Non-County Area 4; exchanged with Douglas. (Ore. Terr. Special Laws, 1853, 5th reg. sess., p. 13)  19 November 1885: Gained from Douglas. (Ore. Laws 1885, gen., 13th sp. sess., p. 3)  16 February 1887: Gained from Linn. (Ore. Laws 1887, gen., 14th reg. sess., p. 126)  19 Feb 1903: Gained from Douglas. (Ore. Laws 1903, 22nd reg. sess., pp. 115-116) 29 January 1907: Exchanged with Linn. (Ore. Laws 1907, gen., 24th reg. sess., ch. 3/pp. 12-14)  19 February 1907: Gained from Linn. (Ore. Laws 1907, gen., 24th reg. sess., ch. 63/pp. 114-115)  12 February 1915: Gained from Linn and exchanged with Douglas. Area annexed from Linn was approximately 120 acres along the Willamette River near the present town of Lancaster [too small to map]. (Ore. Laws 1915, gen., 28th reg. sess., ch. 65/pp. 74-77)  15 February 1923: Lost to Benton and Lincoln. (Ore. Laws 1923, gen., 32nd reg. sess., ch. 92/pp. 129-131)  3 March 1927: Boundary with Lincoln redefined to correct minor errors in 15 February 1923 description [no change]. (Ore. Laws 1927, gen., 34th reg. sess., ch. 278/pp. 350-351) 6 March 1931: Gained small area from Lincoln when boundary was redefined to correct an error in the previous description. (Ore. Laws 1931, gen., 36th reg. sess., ch. 288/p. 514)

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.

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

Trivia Tidbits
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. Trivia Tidbits

Populated Places
The following are locations in the county:

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

Defunct Post Offices

 * Ada: Post Office established 1892. Named for Miss Ada Wilkes, a daughter of an old-time resident. She was subsequently Mrs. Ada Cleveland.
 * Alma: Alma is in the southwest part of Lane County on the Siuslaw River. Post Office was established in 1888, with A. P. Condray as first postmaster. Named for Alma Johnson, daughter of Arthur and Alice Johnson, early settlers in the community.
 * Alpha: The post office at Alpha was established in 1890, and was named for Alpha Lundy, the daughter of the first postmaster, Mrs. Flora B. Lundy. Alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet.
 * Alvadore: Alvadore was named for Alvadore Welch of Portland, who built the Portland, Eugene and Eastern Railway through the community. The railway was later acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad, but in 1936 the track was torn up. Alvadore post office was established in 1914.

Biography
Trivia Tidbits: Little biographic bits associated with the names of non-population localities.

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Lutheran

 * Records of Bethesda Evangelical Lutheran Church, Eugene, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

County Records

 * County Records Inventory lists record collections and locations held.

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index

World War I

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

Newspapers
Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

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

Repositories

 * Lane County Archive and Records Center
 * Lane County Historical Museum
 * Lane County Public Service Building
 * Oregon State Archives
 * Oregon Historical Society
 * University of Oregon, Knight Library
 * Lane Education Service District

Rivers and Waterways
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. Rivers and Waterways

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

 * 1842-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images (*); Also at: Ancestry
 * 1860-1952 at FamilySearch — index

Marriage Records

 * 1826-1975 Oregon, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1842-1917 Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1917 at Ancestry - index and images ($); Also at: 
 * 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
 * 1852-1921 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1906-1968 Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1968 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
 * Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
 * Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums
Cottage Grove Genealogical Society 700 Gibbs Ave Cottage Grove, OR Phone: 541-942-9570 Email: [mailto:cggenealogy@cggenealogy.org cggenealogy@cggenealogy.org] Website Facebook

Lane Library League Website

Lane County History Museum 740 W 13th Ave Eugene, OR 97402-4010 Phone: 541-682-4242 Website Facebook

Family History Centers

 * Cottage Grove Oregon Family History Center
 * Eugene Oregon Family History Center
 * Florence Oregon Family History Center
 * Reedsport Oregon Family History Center
 * Oregon Genealogical Society, Inc. - an affiliate library
 * Siuslaw Public Library - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Lane County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Lane County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives