Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Grand Traverse County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Business Records
- Articles of association · RG 99-651902 to 1927
- Articles of incorporation · RG 99-651950 to 1978
Cemetery Records
- Grand Traverse County files · RG 83-531962 to 1976
Court Records
- Appeal docket Supreme Court · RG 2019-1291933 to 1943
- Chancery calendars · RG 2019-1291857 to 1935
- Chancery decrees · RG 2019-1291887 to 1955
- Chancery decrees tax sales · RG 2019-1291890 to 1932
- Chancery index · RG 2019-1291882 to 1914
- Chancery index decrees · RG 2019-1291955 to 1967
- Chancery journal · RG 2019-1291860 to 1875
- Chancery tax calendar · RG 2019-1291890 to 1892
- Circuit Court Commissioners docket · RG 2019-1291942 to 1950
- Common rule book · RG 2019-1291876 to 1909
- Criminal calendar · RG 2019-1291935 to 1948
- Jurors’ time table · RG 71-1031889 to 1904
- Justice civil docket · RG 2019-1291907 to 1909
- Lis pendens · RG 80-1171861 to 1904
- Records of justices · RG 71-1031861 to 1890
- Special motion book · RG 2019-1291860 to 1905
- Special orders and decree · RG 2019-1291857 to 1932
- Taxable inheritances · RG 84-351903 to 1921
- Transcript docket · RG 2019-1291889 to 1985
Land Records
- Deeds · RG 80-1171853 to 1889
- Deeds index · RG 80-1171853 to 1901
- Mortgage index · RG 80-1171853 to 1900
- Rural Property Inventory (Green Lake, Long Lake, Mayfield, Paradise, Peninsula, and Whitewater Townships) · RG 84-551936 to 1939
Military Records
Naturalization Records
- Certificate stubs · RG 99-491932 to 1979
- Declarations of Intention · RG 99-491857 to 1977
- Index · RG 99-491855 to 1942
- Journals · RG 99-491853 to 1906
- Order of court granting petitions · RG 99-491932 to 1964
- Petitions · RG 99-491907 to 1980
- Petitions recommended to be granted · RG 99-491964 to 1981
- Repatriations · RG 99-491937 to 1956
Occupational Records
- Dentists register · RG 84-351907 to 1973
- Medical practitioners register · RG 84-351883 to 1899
- Nurses register · RG 84-351910 to 1958
- Optometrists register · RG 84-351910 to 1958
- Osteopathy register · RG 84-351902 to 1930
- Physicians returned by assessor · RG 84-351900 to 1911
Political Records
- Record of nominations · RG 71-1031910 to 1916
Prison Records
- Jail record · RG 71-1031870 to 1906
School Records
Tax Records
- Tax assessment rolls · RG 84-561854 to 1862
Vital Records
- Birth index · RG 80-1231856 to 1960
- Birth records · RG 80-123*1867 to 1960
- Death index · RG 80-1231867 to 1960
- Death records · RG 80-1231867 to 1916
- Marriage index · RG 80-1231853 to 1960
- Marriage records · RG 80-123 Birth records are closed for 100 years.1853 to 1933
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected holdings described by the Archives of Michigan. Preserve the record-group (RG) reference when requesting records. Some collections are held at partner repositories; consult the guide before traveling. Asterisks and other qualifiers refer to access or location notes in that guide. Some records have privacy restrictions or require proof of death. A date span may contain gaps and does not establish that images are online.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Grand Traverse County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk, the register of deeds and the probate court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Births, deaths and marriages registered in the county, and court records.
- The register of deeds
Deeds, mortgages and other land records.
- The probate court
Wills, estates and guardianships.
- The Archives of Michigan
In Lansing: state and county records, and Michigan death certificates from 1897 to 1952 online at Michiganology.
- Archives of Michiganfree
The state archives in Lansing, with county and state records, military records and Michigan death records.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Michigan, Grand Traverse" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Omeena County (extinct)
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1851, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Michigan began registering births and deaths in 1867, much earlier than most states, with county clerks keeping the registers and sending copies to the state. Ask the county clerk for the early registers.