Sierra County, California Genealogy

United States California  Sierra County

County Courthouse
Sierra County Courthouse 100 Courthouse Sq Ste 11 PO Box D Suite 11 Downieville, CA 95936 Phone 530.289.6295

County Recorder has birth records from 1857, marriage and land records from 1852 and death records from 1862, Superior Court has divorce probate and court records and naturalization records from 1852

Parent County
16 April 1852: Sierra County was created 16 April 1852 from Yuba County. County seat: Downieville

Record Loss
1947: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

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


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

Neighboring Counties

 * Lassen
 * Nevada
 * Plumas
 * Washoe County, Nevada
 * Yuba

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for emigrant settlers included:


 * California Trail 1844 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Truckee (River) Trail 1844 crossed the Forty Mile Desert to the Truckee River to follow it west past Reno, Nevada to Donner Pass to Emigrant Gap to Sutter's Fort (Sacramento, California). The exact route varied over the years, the most used being the Nevada City Road and Auburn Emigrant Road combination.
 * Henness Pass Road 1850 branched off the Truckee Trail at Verdi, Nevada headed for Camptonville and steamboat service at Marysville, California. In 1860 it became a major route to the Comstock Lode silver mines in Nevada.
 * Beckwourth Trail 1850 left the Truckee Trail near present-day Sparks, Nevada going to Oroville and Marysville, California

Newspapers

 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a collection of digitized Reno, Nevada newspapers going back to 1870 that may include residents from Sierra County. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

 * Sierra County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site