San Diego County, California Genealogy

Guide to San Diego County, California ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records. California Online Genealogy Records

County Courthouse
Superior Court records from 1850. Superior Court has probate, civil and divorce records.

Main County Courthouse

220 W. Broadway

San Diego, CA 92101

Courthouse location

County Administration Building
County Clerk Recorder has birth records from 1857 marriage records from 1856 death records from 1873 and land records from 1850’s.

www.co.san-diego.ca.us/

Parent County
18 February 1850: San Diego County was created as an original county. County seat: San Diego

Description
The county seat San Diego and the county was created February 18, 1850. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating California county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation California County Boundary Maps" (1850-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

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

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

 * Imperial
 * Orange
 * Riverside

Biography

 * San Diego County Biographies (Genealogy Trails)
 * Index to San Diego County Biographies (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Index to San Diego County Biographies (CAGenWeb Project)
 * San Diego County Pioneers (Genealogy Trails)

Census

 * 1850 U.S. Census, San Diego County, California (USGenWeb Archives)

Church History and Records

 * 1864-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

List of Churches and Church Parishes


 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
San Diego Superior Court records are maintained at several courthouse locations and at a records warehouse.

Directories

 * 1874, 1926-1960 - San Diego City Directories in the City of San Diego Digital Archives — PDFs, downloadable and searchable.
 * 1939 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1939 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1940 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1940 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1941 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1941 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1942 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1942 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1944 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1944 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1947 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1947 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1953 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1953 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1956 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1956 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1957 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1957 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1958 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1958 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)
 * 1960 San Diego, California, City Directory, 1960 at MyHeritage — index & images, ($)

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1904-1952 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1905-1923 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1907-1956 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1929-1954 at FamilySearch - [[California, San Diego, Airplane Passenger and Crew Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * How to Use this Collection]]; index

Gazetteers

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

History

 * San Diego County History Records (USGenWeb Archives)

Land and Property

 * Index to Federal Land Records, San Diego County (USGenWeb Archives)
 * City of San Diego Digital Archives at the City of San Diego Website — Historic Documents: Clerk Tax Certificates, Deeds, Leases and Contracts, Lot Books, Municipal Tideland Leases, Pueblo Land Abstract, Pueblo Lot Index, Sale of Pueblo Lots Index A-Z, Street Improvement Assessment Roll, Planning Maps

Maps

 * Maps of California (1850-1925)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration

 * 1906-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

Military History and Records

 * Obituaries for Military Veterans - Scroll down to Obituaries. (USGenWeb Archives)

Civil War

 * 1883 San Diego County – List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883 (Genealogy Trails)
 * 1886 Civil War Veterans, Heintzelman Post No. 33, G. A. R. 1886
 * Barbara Palmer. The Civil War veterans of San Diego, CA : including citations to genealogical research sources in San Diego, California. San Diego? California : Barbara Palmer, c1999 FHL 979.498/S1 M2p]

World War I

 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

World War II

 * San Diego County, World War II Army Enlistments (USGenWeb Archives)

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1831-1985 at FamilySearch — index and images

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

California, San Diego Naturalization Index (FaamilySearch Historical Records)

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * California Digital Newspaper Collection at UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research

Obituaries

 * Index to San Diego County Obituaries (Genealogy Trails)
 * Surname Index to San Diego County Obituaries (USGenWeb Archives)
 * 1909 - 1910 Obituary Index to San Diego Union

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1782 - 1999 California Wills and Probate Records 1782-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1833 – 1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images
 * 1848 - 1900 Abstracts of Wills, 1848 to 1900, San Diego County, California, on film, office of the County Clerk at FamilySearch — images
 * 1849 - 1899 Index to San Diego County Wills, 1849-1899 (USGenWeb Archives)
 * Index to San Diego County Wills (USGenWeb Archives)

Archives, Libraries and Museums
Carlsbad City Library - click on "Genealogy" on right side for details.

Family History Centers

 * El Centro California Family History Center
 * Escondido California Family History Center
 * Jamul California Family History Center
 * Murrieta California Family History Center
 * Penasquitos California Family History Center
 * Poway California Family History Center
 * San Diego California East Family History Center
 * San Diego California FamilySearch Center
 * San Diego California Sweetwater Family History Center
 * Vista California Family History Center


 * Escondido Public Library - Pioneer Room - an affiliate library

Societies
Alpine Historical Society Website

Carlsbad Historical Society Website

Chula Vista Genealogical Society Website

El Cajon Historical Society Website

Encinitas Historical Society Website

Lakeside Historical Society Website

Lemon Grove Historical Society Website

Oceanside Historical Society Website

Poway Historical and Memorial Society Website

Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society Website

San Diego Genealogical Society Website

San Marcos Historical Society Website

Santee Historical Society Website

Solana Beach Civil and Historical Society Website

Spring Valley Historical Society Website

Temecula Valley Historical Society Website

Valley Center Historical Society Website

Vital Records
See also How to order California Vital Records

Birth

 * 1800 - 1994 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1812 - 1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1905 - 1995 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at: MyHeritage($)


 * San Diego County Birth Notices by year (Genealogy Trails)

Marriage

 * 1800 - 2007 California, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1850 - 1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection index
 * 1850 - 1952 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images. Also at: MyHeritage($)
 * 1854 - 1885 Western States Marriage Index.
 * 1960 - 1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images. Also at: MyHeritage($)
 * San Diego County Marriage Notices by year (Genealogy Trails)

Divorce

 * 1966 - 1984 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

Death

 * 1776 - 2000 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, some images
 * 1800 - 1994 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1905 - 1939 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1940 - 1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at: MyHeritage($)


 * San Diego County, California Obituary and Death Notice Collection Free from GenealogyBuff.com. Obits and death notices from Various Funeral Homes in the San Diego, Oceanside, Chula Vista, Escondido, San Marcos, El Cajon and Carlsbad areas.
 * San Diego County Death Records (Genealogy Trails)

Voting Registers
California county clerks were to keep voting registers every other year from 1866 and well into the 20th century. These large books, called Great Registers, listed the men who registered to vote in that county. Besides name and age, the record may show place of birth, address, occupation, naturalization date and sometimes even a physical description.

These records are at the California State Library (1866-1944), and microfilmed copies are available through Family History Centers (1866-1910). Ancestry ($) has a searchable database of San Diego Great Registers from 1867-1898.

The San Diego records indexes for 1866-1879 are available on the RootsWeb site, by clicking here.


 * 1866-1898 California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898 at Ancestry.com - index ($)
 * 1866-1910 California, Great Registers, 1866-1910 at MyHeritage - index, ($)

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries
British Isles Genealogical Research Association PO Box 19775 San Deigo, CA 92159-0775

Chula Vista Genealogical Society P. O. Box 3024 Chula Vista, CA 91909 Website

El Cajon Historical Society PO Box 1973 El Cajon, CA 9220

Escondido Genealogical Society, Inc. Escondido, CA 92033-2190

San Diego Genealogical Society 2925 Kalmia Street San Diego 92104 Website

San Diego Historical Society P.O. Box 81825 San Diego 92138

San Diego African-American Genealogy Research Group (SDAAGRG) P.O. Box 741956 San Diego, CA 92174-1956

San Diego Genealogical Society 7343 Ronson Road Suite O San Diego, CA 92111-1430 Phone: (858) 279-7347

San Diego County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 422 Ramona, CA 92065

Fallbrook Historical Society PO Box 1375 Fallbrook CA 92088

Gaslamp Black Hist Society PO Box 1122469 San Diego, CA 92112-2469

Julian Historical Society PO Box 513 Julian, CA 92036

La Jolla Historical Society PO Box 2085 La Jolla CA 92038

La Mesa Historical Society PO Box 882 La Mesa CA 92044

North San Diego County Genealogical Society PO Box 581 Carlsbad CA 92008PO Website

Ramona Pioneer Historical Society PO Box 625 Ramona, CA 92065 San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group PO Box 740240 San Diego, CA 92174-0240

San Diego History Center PO Box 81825 San Diego, CA 92138

San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society PO Box 927089 San Diego, CA 92192-7089

Shrine Foundation Historical Society 2482 San Diego Avenue San Diego, CA 92110

Vista Historical Society 2317 Old Foothill Drive Vista, CA 92084


 * List of California Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Websites

 * San Diego County, CA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * California Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * San Diego County CAGenWeb
 * Linkpendium
 * San Diego County, USGenWeb Archives
 * FamilySearch Catalog
 * San Diego, California Genealogy Trails
 * San Diego County CA Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)