Mesa County, Colorado Genealogy

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

Colorado Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for the large mesas in the area, including Grand Mesa, the most extensive mesa on Earth. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Mesa County Courthouse 125 North Spruce PO Box 20,000-5030 Grand Junction, CO 81502 Phone: 970-257-3640 Mesa County Website County Clerk has marriage and land records from 1883 County Clerk

Early birth and death records are stored in the courthouse.

County Health Department

510 29 1/2 Road Grand Junction, Colorado 81504 Website

County Health Department has birth, death and burial records; 1885 census taken

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:

State and Territory Census Records

 * 1860 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado was included in the 1860 Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah Territories Censuses - How to Use this Collection
 * 1870 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado Territory Census - How to Use this Collection
 * 1885 at FamilySearch - Index and images
 * 1885 Colorado State Census, 1885 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images

Federal Census Records
The 1880 Census was the first Federal Census for Colorado after it became a state in 1876. For links to Federal Census indexes, see Colorado Census.
 * 1860-1940 Colorado Census Records from 1860 to 1940 at FamilySearch.org — index/images

Church Records
Online Church Records
 * 1692-1942 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Presbyterian Church
 * 1743-1970 U.S., Presbyterian Records, 1743-1970 at Ancestry — ($); Index and images; Dates vary for each county

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Fruita
 * Grand Junction
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
An Index of many Court related cases (marriage, divorce, judgements, liens, etc.) are accessible on the Mesa County, Colorado home page. Through their Online Services: Record --Recorded Documents page. This is not by all means an inclusive list and Mesa County reminds users, "The Mesa County Recorder Office presents the information on this web site as a service to the public. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, no person or entity, including Mesa County, the Clerk or her staff, shall have any responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions in the data at this site or at other sites to which we link. Use of this site is an acknowledgement of this disclaimer. The official records of the County are located in the Office."

Non-county residents do not have access to all the functions of the website.

There is also a direct link to the search page.

Numerous records are available at Colorado Archives. To use this link scroll down the page to where it asks for Record Type. Click there and scroll down the list to the records you want and select. The next field asks for county. Select the county you want and then click on Search. You can narrow the search by adding the additional information it asks for.

Directories
Online Directories
 * 1902-1994 U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images, Grand Junction City Directories, various dates

Funeral Homes

 * Abbey-Arnold Cremation Services in Grand Junction
 * Brown's Cremation and Funeral Service in Grand Junction
 * Clifton Funeral Home in Clifton
 * Grand Valley Funeral Homes in Grand Junction

Land and Property Records
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder: Website

Contact Information

200 S. Spruce Street

Grand Junction, CO 81501
 * (970) 244-1800

Hours
 * 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
 * Monday - Friday
 * (Except holidays

Online Land Records

For more information see Colorado Land and Property
 * Colorado DPA Land Records - Index only; Choose Record Type, and search either "Land Patents" or "Land Records."
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1863-1908 U.S. Homestead Records 1863-1908 at Ancestry - ($), index and images
 * 1862-1908 Denver Land Office Records, 1862-1908 at Ancestry - ($), index only

Local Histories
Online County Histories
 * Gateway/Unaweep Canyon at some point in time : a History of the Gateway and the Unaweep Canyon Areas. c2000. Compiled and edited by Jean Moores and James E. Massey. Decorah, Iowa : Anundsen..
 * Route 1 Mack, Colorado : a History of the Communities of Mack and New Liberty. c1997.  By Homer C. Likes and Phyllis C. Maluy Likes. Orem, Utah : Likes Pub. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library;.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Colorado - shows boundary changes for Colorado Counties
 * Colorado Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Online Collections
These collections are unique to Colorado. You will find nationwide databases for military records on U.S. Military Online Genealogy Records and Colorado Military Records.

All Veterans
 * Colorado State Archives Veterans Grave Registration Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Military - Grave

Civil War
 * Colorado Civil War Casualties Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Civil War Casualty
 * 1861-1865 Colorado State Archives Volunteers Transcript of Record Index (1861-1865) at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Transcript of Record

 Subject to and Exempt from Military
 * 1885-1887 Mesa County Persons Subject to Military at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search
 *  1887 Mesa County Persons Exempt from Military at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

Spanish-American War (1898)
 * 1898 Colorado Volunteers in the Spanish American War, 1898 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Span-Am War Soldiers

World War I
 * 1916-1919 Colorado State Archives Denver War Risk Insurance Applicants, 1916-1919 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, War Risk Insurance
 * 1917-1922 Colorado State Archives World War I Civilian Service Questionnaires, 1917-1922 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, WWI Questionnaire
 * 1917-1918 Colorado Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918 at Ancestry.com — ($), index

World War II
 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1940-1945 Men and women in the armed forces from Mesa County.Oklahoma City, Okla. : Western Pub. Co., c1946 FHL Digital Images

Vietnam War
 * 1966 & 1968 Colorado State Archives Vietnam War Casualties - June-December 1966 & January-December 1968 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Vietnam Deaths

For further information see Colorado Military Records.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Records
 * 1868-1990 Colorado, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1868-1990 at Ancestry ($); Index and images
 * 1876-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images; District Court records - How to Use this Collection

Newspapers
Colorado Newspapers Online
 * Colorado Online Historical Newspapers online - in the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection by the Colorado State Library
 * Colorado Newspapers at Ancestry.com - ($)
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Colorado newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites

Colorado Newspaper Catalogs
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspapers


 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Obituaries
Obituaries printed in the Daily Sentinel can be found on the Mesa County Libraries website. Older obituaries have only the Name, Date published in the Sentinel.

Other Records
Work Programs Licenses
 * 1934-1942 Mesa County CCC Enrollments at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search
 * 1913-1917 Mesa County Motor Vehicle Licenses at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1875–1974 Colorado Wills and Probate Records 1875-1974 at Ancestry.com — index & images, ($)
 * 1883-1910 Mesa County Probate at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

School Records
Mesa County School records are held in the Loyd Files Research Library, located in the Museum of the West, 462 Ute (second floor, 5th and Ute) Grand Junction, CO 81501

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.

Tax Records

 * 1920-1934 Mesa County Inheritance Tax at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

Birth
Birth records may become public records when 100 years have elapsed after the date of birth. EXCEPTION: The birth record of any individual who is known to be currently alive will remain confidential even if they are 100 years of age or greater.

Marriage
Online Records
 * 1784-2007 Colorado, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1809-2011 Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011 - Index, incomplete, list of counties included
 * 1853-2006 at FamilySearch.org - Index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1858-1939 Colorado Marriages 1858-1939 at Denver Public Library - index
 * 1859-1900 Colorado Marriages, 1859-1900 at Ancestry - ($); Index only
 * 1862-2006 Colorado, County Marriages and State Indexes, 1862-2006 at Ancestry ($), Index and images
 * 1863-2018 Colorado, Select County Marriages, 1863-2018 at Ancestry.com - index and images, ($)
 * 1864-1995 at FamilySearch - Index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1900-1939 Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, 1900-1939 at Ancestry - ($); Browseable images of original index
 * 1975 - 2004 Colorado, Marriages, 1975 - 2004 at MyHeritage - index & images, ($)

Death
Death records may become public records when 75 years have elapsed after the date of death.

Divorce
Online Records
 * 1861-1941 Denver Public Library Colorado Divorce Index 1861-1941 at Denver Public Library - index
 * 1878-2004 Colorado, Divorces, 1878 - 2004 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1900-1939 at FamilySearch - Browseable images of original index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1950-1970 Mesa County Divorce Cases at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

Archives
1883-1910 Mesa County Probate 1885-1887 Mesa County Persons Subject to Military 1887 Mesa County Persons Exempt from Military 1913-1917 Mesa County Motor Vehicle Licenses 1920-1934 Mesa County Inheritance Tax 1934-1942 Mesa County CCC Enrollments 1950-1970 Mesa County Divorce Cases

Family History Centers

 * Aspen Colorado Family History Center
 * Castle Valley Utah Family History Center
 * Delta Colorado Family History Center
 * Glenwood Springs Colorado Family History Center
 * Grand Junction Colorado Family History Center
 * Montrose Colorado Family History Center
 * Moab Utah Family History Center
 * Paonia Colorado Family History Center
 * Rifle Colorado Family History Center


 * Mesa County Library - Central Library - an affiliate library
 * Mesa County Libraries - Clifton Branch - an affiliate library
 * Mesa County Libraries - De Beque Branch - an affiliate library
 * Mesa County Libraries - Fruita Branch - an affiliate library
 * Mesa County Libraries - Gateway Branch - an affiliate library
 * Mesa County Libraries - Orchard Mesa Branch - an affiliate library

Libraries
Mesa County Libraries 443 N 6th Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-243-4442 Email: [mailto:ask@mcpld.org ask@mcpld.org] Website Facebook

Museums
Museums of Western Colorado 462 Ute Ave Grand Junction, CO 970-242-0971 Email: [mailto:info@mowc.co info@mowc.co] Website


 * Helping the Community Preserve Its Heritage and Tell Its Story
 * Thanks to the past support from our community, the Museums of Western Colorado (MWC) has become the largest multi-disciplinary museum complex between Salt Lake City and Denver. It includes three major museum facilities — Cross Orchards Historic Site, Dinosaur Journey Museum, and the Museum of the West; the Loyd Files Research Library; and four outdoor paleontology sites. We offer a multitude of programs and services including dinosaur expeditions and gift shops. Annually, over 100,000 people visit museum facilities and participate in our programs. The MWC is one of the most significant cultural institutions on the Western Slope and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mesa County.


 * Museum’s Birth
 * The MWC had its earliest roots in 1949 when a group known as the Memorial Museum Association purchased 24,000 adobe bricks and began construction of a building in the Intermountain Veteran’s Memorial Park. The building was never completed, but in 1953 the Memorial Museum Association reorganized as the Western Slope Museum Association, and the artifacts the group gathered would later constitute a major portion of the Museum’s present-day collections.


 * After these early efforts, the MWC finally got started when it incorporated as the Museum of Arts and Sciences in 1965. It opened its doors on May 1, 1966 in the former Whitman School at 248 South 4th Street. In 1968, it was renamed the Historical Museum and Institute of Western Colorado. The Museum began receiving operational funding from Mesa County in 1974 after voters overwhelmingly approved it by more than a 3-1 margin and the name was finally changed to the Museum of Western Colorado in 1977.


 * When the Museum was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) in 1971, it was the 28th in the nation and the second in Colorado to qualify for this professional certification. Periodic re-evaluation by AAM is required to maintain the prestigious designation, and regularly scheduled evaluations in 1982 and 1996 determined that the museum continually met or exceeded the highest professional standards and expectations. In August 2009, we were awarded our 4th accreditation, which places us in the top 1% of museums in the country. The MWC is one of only 13 accredited museums in Colorado, of which only two are the Western Slope.


 * Cross Orchards Historic Site
 * MWC acquired Cross Orchard Historic Site in 1980 following a community-wide, fundraising campaign to save the last vestiges of the former Red Cross Land and Fruit Company from demolition. The 4.3 acre site was once part of a 243-acre fruit ranch that was operated as an agricultural showcase from 1896 to 1923. With more than 22,000 trees, Cross Orchards was one of the largest in the state when most local orchards averaged nine acres. Most of the fruit ranch was planted in apples, but a few acres of pears and peaches were also grown. Primary apple varieties of the day included Black Twig, Gano, Jonathan, Winesap, Rome Beauty, and Ben Davis.


 * The historic Cross Orchards barn and packing shed, located at 3073 F Road, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Ongoing restoration has returned the farm, now comprising 25-acres and several ancillary exhibits, to an early 20th century appearance. Costumed interpreters offer visitors an opportunity to step back in time and experience life in the Grand Valley in the early 1900s.


 * Also located at Cross Orchards is the largest collection of rolling stock for the historic Uintah Railroad that is known to exist. From 1902 to 1938, this rail line hauled Gilsonite from Dragon, Utah to Mack, Colorado where it was transferred to the Denver-Rio Grande Railroad. The cars and a caboose have been lovingly restored by the Rio Grande Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.


 * Dinosaur Journey Museum
 * The MWC expanded again in 1985 when it opened Dinosaur Valley in downtown Grand Junction. When the Museum acquired the former Dinosaur Discovery Center in Fruita in 2000, it transferred its existing assets to the Fruita facility and re-christened it Dinosaur Journey Museum.


 * Dinosaur Journey today tells the story of the history of life in western Colorado and surrounding areas with real fossils, cast skeletons, and robotic reconstructions of dinosaurs. Among the exhibits are real bones of dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, and the largest Triceratops skull known to exist. There are also robotic reconstructions of Dilophosaurus, Utahraptor, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and a baby T-Rex. Accompanying all these are full-size cast skeletal mounts of Velociraptor, Camarasaurus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Othneilia, Camptosaurus, and Mymoorapelta. Children of all ages can compare their size to that of the shoulder blade of a Supersaurus. On the other end of the size spectrum is the tiny Jurassic age Fruitadens, arguably the smallest known dinosaur. In addition, there are hands-on interactive displays, a working laboratory where dinosaur bones are prepared for display, a collections room where scientists study dinosaurs and other animals, a simulated earthquake ride, a dinosaur library reading area, a sandbox for making your own dinosaur tracks, and a “quarry site” where kids can uncover actual Jurassic dinosaur bones. More than a museum, Dinosaur Journey is an active research institution that contributes on a yearly basis to our knowledge of ancient North America.


 * Museum of the West
 * What was the main part MWC and was a regional history museum, moved from the Whitman school in 2000 to the renovated C.D. Smith Warehouse at 5th Street and Ute Avenue. Renamed the Museum of the West, it contains exhibits on Western Colorado within a regional perspective, a space for traveling exhibits, the Sterling T. Smith Observation Tower, and the Museum’s administrative offices. The Museum of the West now offers a thousand years of history that can be experienced. “Ride” in a stagecoach, “fly” a 1958 Cessna from Walker Field or gaze upon an ancient cup and ladle from the Ancestral Pueblo. Study Ute and Fremont rock art, see the real firearms that outlaws used, sit in a one-room schoolhouse and visit the Pastime saloon to experience western Americana at its best.


 * Also located at the Museum of the West is the Loyd Files Research Library. It offers life-long learners of all ages access to primary sources of information about the region’s cultural and natural history. The Loyd Files Research Library collects photographs, one-of-a-kind manuscripts, maps, city directories, high school annuals and rare books. We offer onsite access to the Mesa County Genealogy Society’s library of over 3,000 books, and materials collected by the Mesa County Historical Society and the Quahada Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society. In addition, the Loyd Files Research Library coordinates the Mesa County Oral History Project, one of the largest of its type in the state.


 * The MWC has also recently cooperated with the Colorado Canyon Association in the production a several videos including “Stories from the Land: McInnis Canyons” which won the American Association of State and Local History ASLH Award of Merit.


 * But wait, that is not all… The former home of the history museum, the Whitman Educational Center, has been renovated and remodeled into conference and classroom space.


 * Outdoor areas have become a major element of the Museum’s operation. The Museum signed a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to co-manage the Rabbit Valley Natural Area in 1985. The Trail Through Time, a 1.5 mile interpretive walking trail, opened a year later. The Museum purchased Riggs Hill, located in the Redlands, in 1986. Elmer S. Riggs of the Field Columbian Museum discovered a Brachiosaurus, for decades the world’s largest known dinosaur, at this site in 1900. Dinosaur Hill, located near Fruita, has been co-managed by the Museum and BLM since 1987. The Apatosaurus that Riggs found at this site in 1901 has been a popular exhibit in the Field Museum, Chicago, for many decades. The Museums of Western Colorado also co-manages the Fruita Paleontological Area with the BLM.


 * The Western Investigations Team (WIT) was formed in 2005 as a joint cooperative venture between Colorado Mesa University and the MWC. The goal of WIT is to use history, archaeology, and all forms of science to solve unanswered questions and mysteries in regional history. Among other projects, WIT’s Director David Bailey won an award for his work that proved the innocence of Alfred Packer, the famed “Colorado Cannibal,” and was been featured in a History Channel documentary, “Cannibals,” in 2005.

Societies
Mesa County Genealogical Society PO Box 1506 Grand Junction, Colorado 81502-1506 Email: [mailto:president@mesacountygenealogy.org president@mesacountygenealogy.org] Website Mesa County Historical Society Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-260-5226 E-mail:[mailto:Priscilla.Mangnall@gmail.com Priscilla.Mangnall@gmail.com]

Websites

 * Mesa County, Colorado Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records