Iron County, Utah Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for the iron mines west of Cedar City. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Iron County Courthouse 40 N 100 E Cedar City, UT 84720 Phone: 435-867-3250 Iron County Courthouse Clerk District Court has divorce, probate and court records.

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:

History Timeline

 * See Iron County, Utah from Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, for a timeline of boundary changes for Iron County

NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia for Iron County, Parowan, Utah and Ceder City, Utah
 * 1776 Ancestors of present day Paiute Indians met the Dominguez-Escalante Expediton in this area.
 * 1850 January 31. Iron County was created as an original county.
 * 1851 January. First settlement at Parowan as “Iron Mission”.
 * 1851 Cedar City settled by Mormon pioneers.
 * 1858 Iron works closed, but mining continued.
 * 1900’s Sheep and dairy industries well established.
 * 1923 Became tourist gateway with railroad connection to county.
 * 1933 Cedar Breaks National Monument established.
 * 1961 Utah Shakespeare Festivalfounded by Fred C. Adams.
 * 1964-1965 Brian Head Ski Resort opened for skiing.

Cemeteries

 * Territorial-1966 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Iron County Cemeteries at the Utah State Historical site

Church Records
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) Historically, most people in Utah were Latter-day Saints. Their records are, therefore, very important for early Utah research. For additional information, see Tracing Latter-day Saint Ancestors and Utah Church Records.
 * 1877-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

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

Court Records
Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1848-2001 Utah, State Archives Records, 1848-2001. "County Court Minutes Vol A 1851-1854" and "Probate Court Minutes 1854-1868" are part of FS digital collection:

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1847-1868 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & links to images

Funeral Homes
Southern Utah Mortuary 190 North 300 West Cedar City, Utah 84720 Toll-Free: (888)586-4040 Phone: (435)586-4040 Fax: (435)586-4343

Local Histories
Iron County was originally named Little Salt Lake Valley, and renamed for the iron mines west of Cedar City.


 * Seegmiller, Janet Burton. A history of Iron County community above self Utah Centennial County History Series
 * History of Iron County Mission, Parowan, UtahAncestry.com ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Utah Gazetteers


 * 2012 Google highway map of Iron County 2012
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Iron County for emigrant settlers included:
 * 1846-1869 Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah
 * 1847 Mormon Trail to Southern California 1847 from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California
 * 1869 Union Pacific Railroad 1869 Ogden, Utah (among others) to Omaha, Nebraska

Military Records

 * Territorial-1966 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

 Civil War Online Civil War Indexes and Records
 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images at Partner site

World War I
 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

 World War II
 * 1939-1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1938-1946 Army Enlistments, 1938 - 1946.
 * 1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * The USGenWeb Archives, Iron County, Utah contains World War II

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1906-1930 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1906-1930 Utah, Federal Naturalization Records, 1906-1930 at Ancestry- index & images ($)

Newspapers

 * 1850-2003 Utah Newspapers, 1850-2003 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
 * Utah Digital Newspapers Project gives newspaper images online. Search All Newspapers by name or keywords, or Browse by County to view the digitized newspapers.
 * Parowan Times 1915-1945 and Iron County Records 1923-1940 are included.

Obituaries

 * 1850-2005 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & links to images
 * 2010-2013 Utah, U.S., Obituary Index, 2010-2013 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * Iron County Obituaries (work in progress) at UTGenWeb - free.

Prisons

 * 1892-1949 Board of Pardons Prisoners' Pardon Application Case Files, 1892-1949 at Utah Division of Archives and Records Service – index and images

 Notable People Michael O. Leavitt was born and educated in Cedar City. Governor of Utah, administrator of the United States Environment Protection Agency and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1800-1985 Utah Wills and Probate Records 1800-1985 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Birth

 * 1898-1905 Online index to births 1898–1905 Series 83761 The first 6 entries have the child's name Inventory of series 83761 at Utah State Archives.
 * 1903-1914 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1906-1910 1906-1910 online images
 * Southwest Utah Public Health Department Iron County.
 * How to Find Birth Information in Utah

Marriage

 * 1805-1992 Utah, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1871-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1887-1937 Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1937 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1887-1999 Utah, Marriages, 1887-1999 at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * Western States Marriage Index at BYU-Idaho — includes some divorces and alternative sources

Death

 * 1904-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Pre-1904 Utah State Burial Index for death before 1904

FamilySearch Centers

 * Cedar City Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Enterprise Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Panguitch Utah FamilySearch Center
 * Parowan Utah FamilySearch Center

Libraries

 * Cedar City Library in the Park 303 North 100 East Cedar City, UT 84720 Phone 435-586-6661 Website
 * Parowan Public Library 16 South Main Street,P.O. Box 427 Parowan, UT 84761-0427 Phone: 435-477-3491 Website
 * Check for Iron County items in catalogs and holdings of: Utah Archives and Libraries·University Libraries and Special Collections in Utah·United States Archives and Libraries
 * Utah Public Library Directory, which provides links to library web pages, addresses, phone numbers, hours, and maps. Does not mention holdings.

Societies

 * Frontier Homestead - Iron County Website

Websites

 * Iron County GenWeb, and Utah GenWeb
 * USGW Archives Iron, USGW Archives Utah


 * – 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.