Del Norte County, California Genealogy

United States California Del Norte County

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has divorce, probate and court records from 1848; County recorder has birth, marriage and death records from 1873, land records from 1853, leases and agreements 1857-1954

Historical Facts
Del Norte County (pronounced del-nort) sits in the far north west corner of California on the Pacific coast. Exploration by Europeans began with American explorer Jedediah Smith and it was organized into a county in 1857. Forests cover much of this rural territory.

Parent County
2 March 1857: Del Norte County was created from former Klamath County. County seat: Crescent City

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
18 January 1948: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged. For a list of record loss in California counties see: California Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research
 * http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424

Populated Places
Bertsch-Oceanview, Crescent City, Darlingtonia, Douglas Park, Fort Dick, Gasquet, Hiouchi, Klamath, Patrick Creek, Smith River.

Neighboring Counties

 * Curry County, Oregon
 * Humboldt
 * Josephine County, Oregon
 * Siskiyou

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)



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

County Courthouse
www.co.del-norte.ca.us/

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Crescent City California Family History Center

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

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

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries
Del Norte County Historical Society 577 “H” Street Crescent City, CA 95531 Phone:707-464-3922 Del Norte County Historical Society


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

Web Sites

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