Clatsop County, Oregon Genealogy

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

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Description
Clatsop County was named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast of the Pacific Ocean prior to European settlement. The county is located in the northwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage and land records from 1860, divorce and court records from 1875 and probate records from 1880.

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

Quick Facts
Named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans.

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

Parent County
22 June 1844: Clatsop county was created from Twality County now Washington County.

Boundary Changes
15 December 1853: Part was taken off to create Tillamook County.

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.

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:

Defunct Post Offices

 * Albert: Albert was a small community and post office on the upper reaches of Blind Slough, a little to the south of Aldrich Point. The office was testablished Sept. 11, 1901, with Nels Haglund first postmaster. The place was named for Albert Berglund, who was the second postmaster. The office was closed out on Sept. 15, 1913, with all papers going to Blind Slough.

Neighboring counties
Columbia | Tillamook | Washington | Washington counties: Pacific | Wahkiakum

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

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Church History and Records
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.

Historic Oregon Newspapers http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ as a division of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program has digitzied more than 644,000 pages of newspapers throughout Oregon. Dates range from 1846-1922 with selected issues continuing through 1973.

Of particular interest to Clatsop county researchers:

The Daily Astorian The Daily Morning Astorian The Morning Astorian Tri-Weekly Astoria The Aurora Borealis

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

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

Vital Records
The Family History Library has copies of some county records as following:

Clatsop County Coroner inquest transcriptions 1870-1901

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
 * 1876-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Delayed Birth Certificates

Marriage Records

 * 1826-1975 Oregon, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1842-1917 Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1917 at Ancestry - index & images, ($); Also at: 
 * 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
 * 1906-1968 Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1968 at Ancestry - index & 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
Clatsop County Genealogical Society PO Box 64 Warrenton, OR 97146 Website

Clatsop County Historical Society/ Clatsop County Astoria Museums Mailing Address: 714 Exchange St PO Box 88 Astoria, OR 97103-0088 Phone: 503-325-2203 Website Facebook

Astoria Public Library 450 10th St Astoria, OR 97103 Phone:503-325-7323 Website

Family History Centers

 * Astoria Oregon Family History Center
 * Seaside Oregon Family History Center
 * Vernonia Oregon Family History Center
 * Hillsboro Public Library - an affiliate library
 * The Genealogical Forum of Oregon - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Clatsop County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Clatsop County GenWeb Project a member of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Clatsop County.