Gretna Greens in the United States

Definition and Reasons for Run Away Marriages
A Gretna Green is a favored marriage place. When a couple runs away from their home area to get married in a place with fewer marriage restrictions, the place they go is often called a "Gretna Green." They may want to marry at a younger age, want to wait a shorter period after obtaining a licence, want to marry without parental consent, want to avoid procedures such as blood tests, want less paper work, want to avoid paying a marriage bond, want to keep the marriage a secret, want a less expensive marriage, or want to marry a closer cousin than their home district will allow. Or there may be a special romantic place to elope. Some couples wanted to wed in the same place their friends got married. When enough couples resort to a particular place it may gain a reputation as a Gretna Green.

In common law, a "Gretna Green marriage" means a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction.

Scottish Origins
The original Gretna Green is a town by that name, famous for runaway marriages, and just over the border in south Scotland. When English laws prohibited marriage under the age of 21, some younger couples crossed the Scottish border and the first town on the road was Gretna Green. In popular tradition blacksmiths and anvils have become associated symbols of such marriages. Scottish law allowed anyone to perform a marriage if a declaration were made in front of two witnesses. The blacksmiths of Gretna came to be called "anvil priests."

Genealogical Implications
For genealogists seeking a hard to find marriage, searching marriage records in the nearest Gretna Greens may be worthwhile. A Gretna Green can be a certain county in-state, or an out-of-state place. Farmington, Utah was a Gretna Green for Utah. Reno, Nevada was a Gretna Green for California. Niagara County, New York was a Gretna Green for the Province of Ontario, Canada. And Niagara Falls, Ontario was a Gretna Green for New York.

Known Locations for the United States
(The locations in the bullet points below are known Gretna Greens, though it is uncertain which populations they served.)


 * Frederiksburg, Virginia (from abt 1938-1841)
 * West Alexander, Washington, Pennsylvania
 * Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio
 * Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
 * Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania
 * Mount Airy, Surry, North Carolina
 * Aberdeen, Brown, Ohio
 * Howard County, Maryland
 * Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts
 * Maysville, Mason, Kentucky
 * Pike County, Kentucky
 * Chicago, Cook, Illinois
 * Groton, New London, Connecticut (org. 1705)
 * Thompson, Windham, Connecticut