Clackamas County, Oregon Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage and land records 1846. State Archivist has custody of some old county records.

Records held at the Courthouse

 * County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Clackamas County Court House as of September/October 2006.

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

Quick Facts


Named after the Native Americans living in the area, the Clackamas Indians, part of the Chinookan people.

Parent County
5 July 1843: Clackamas county was created from the Oregon Territory.

Boundary Changes
11 January 1854: Wasco County set off.

22 December 1854: Multhomah County set off.

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:

Neighboring Counties
Hood River | Marion | Multnomah | Wasco | Washington | Yamhill

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1845 Territorial Original, Transcription and Index
 * 1849 Territorial Transcription and Index
 * 1850
 * 1854 Original, Transcription and Index
 * 1855 State Original
 * 1856 Transcriptions and Index
 * 1857 State Original and Transcription
 * 1860
 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European and African American settlers included:


 * Willamette River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * Applegate Trail 1846 from Winnemucca, Nevada to Oregon City, Oregon
 * Barlow Road 1846 from The Dalles to Oregon City

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers
Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Historic Oregon Newspapers 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 Clackamas researchers:

Clackamas County Record (Oregon City) Oregon City Courier (Oregon City) oregon courier (Oregon City)

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1864-1922 - Clackamas County Oregon list of will book testators SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills. - free


 * 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and 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:

Clackamas County Coroner's Inquest 1859-1883, Certificates of Death 1921-1944

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

 * 1860 - 1952 - at FamilySearch — index

Delayed Birth Certificates

Birth Registers

Marriage Records

 * 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $


 * 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
Clackamas County Family History Society PO Box 995 Oregon City 97045 Website

Clackamas County Historical Society and Museum 211 Tumwater Drive Oregon City, OR 97045 Telephone: 503-655-5574

Family History Centers

 * Lake Oswego Oregon Family History Center1271 Overlook Dr Lake Oswego OR 97034 United States Location Map
 * Milwaukie Oregon Family History Center (Gladstone) 8331 Cason Rd Gladstone, OR 97027-1416 United States Location Map
 * Molalla Oregon Family History Center13250 S Hwy 211 Molalla OR 97038-9253 United States Location Map
 * Mount Hood Oregon Family History Center(Boring) 12300 SE 312th Ave 12300 Boring OR 97009 United States Location Map
 * Oregon City Oregon Family History Center14340 Donovan Rd Oregon City OR 97045 United States Location Map
 * Wilsonville Oregon Family History Center29350 SW Town Center Loop E Wilsonville, OR 97070-9465 United States Location Map

Websites

 * Clackamas County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Clackamas County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project (backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Clackamas County