Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Muskegon 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 84-321859 to 1948
- People’s State Bank expense books · RG 84-311928 to 1939
Cemetery Records
- Muskegon County files · RG 83-531968 to 1980
Census Records
- Federal census · RG 84-321870
- State census · RG 75-89 and RG 2022-661884 and from 1894
Court Records
- Appeal docket, Supreme Court · RG 2023-451959 to 1971
- Chancery calendars · RG 84-311859 to 1931
- Chancery case files · RG 84-311859 to 1939
- Chancery decrees · RG 84-311874 to 1931
- Chancery indexes · RG 2023-451894 to 1949
- Chancery journals · RG 84-311860 to 1874
- Chancery order books · RG 84-311873 to 1936
- Chancery register · RG 84-311907 to 1908
- Circuit court calendar · RG 84-841917 to 1918
- Circuit court commissioners’ dockets · RG 2012-231936 to 1940
- Circuit court commissioners’ registers · RG 84-311880 to 1936
- Circuit court docket ledgers · RG 2012-231921 to 1931
- Circuit court journal, criminal · RG 2023-451968 to 1973
- Circuit court journals · RG 84-311859 to 1932
- Civil docket divorces · RG 2023-451963 to 1970
- Civil dockets · RG 2023-451970 to 1977
- Coroner’s inquests · RG 88-311863 to 1920
- Criminal calendars · RG 84-311873 to 1931
- Criminal case files · RG 84-311876 to 1931
- General docket · RG 84-311880 to 1883
- General index to criminal cases · RG 2023-451890 to 1952
- Justice court civil dockets (Muskegon) · RG 56-41860 to 1904
- Justice court criminal dockets (Muskegon) · RG 56-41870 to 1911
- Justice court transcripts · RG 84-841858 to 1940
- Law calendars · RG 84-311859 to 1932
- Law case files · RG 84-311856 to 1935
- Law indexes · RG 84-311859 to 1932
- Motion calendars · RG 84-311888 to 1934
- Prosecuting attorney’s criminal case files · RG 84-841905 and from 1911 to 1925
- Prosecuting attorney’s general files · RG 84-841889 to 1921
- Sheriff’s civil writs · RG 84-321905 to 1914
- Sheriff’s execution docket · RG 84-321905 to 1914
- Special motions · RG 84-311860 to 1897
Land Records
- Petitions to Board of Supervisors · RG 84-321870, from 1879, from 1889, and from 1916
Military Records
- Burial of indigent soldiers · RG 84-321889
- Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post records · RG 63-191876 to 1945
- List of Korean War veterans · RG 84-321954
- List of Vietnam War veterans · RG 84-321973
- List of World War I veterans · RG 84-321951
- List of World War II veterans · RG 84-321951
- Record of sailors & miscellaneous discharges, Navy – World War I · RG 2023-441917 to 1919
- Record of soldiers’ discharge, Civil War · RG 2023-441865
- Record of soldiers’ discharge, World War I · RG 2023-441917 to 1919
- Soldiers, sailors & miscellaneous discharges, World War I · RG 2023-441909 to 1920
- Soldiers, sailors & miscellaneous discharges, World War I & World War II · RG 2023-441919 to 1921 and 1941 to 1944
Naturalization Records
- Applications for repatriation · RG 94-3021937 to 1951
- Certificate stubs · RG 84-1191907 to 1926
- Declarations of Intention · RG 84-1191859 to 1929
- Depositions and correspondence · RG 94-3021930 to 1959
- Index cards · RG 94-3021929 to 1947
- Index to Declarations of Intentions · RG 84-1191859 to 1941
- Oaths of naturalization · RG 84-1191850 to 1911
- Petitions and records · RG 84-1191894 to 1931
Occupational Records
- Chiropractor register · RG 84-321928 to 1956
- Dentist register · RG 84-321907 to 1976
- Drugless healer register · RG 84-321923 and from 1926
- Lists of physicians · RG 84-321902 to 1904
- Lists of township officers · RG 84-321859 to 1947
- Medical practitioner’s sworn statements · RG 84-321882 to 1924
- Memorials by County Bar Association · RG 88-311884 to 1941
- Nomination petitions · RG 84-321896 and from 1926 to 1966
- Nurse register · RG 84-321892 to 1956
- Nurses and trained attendant register · RG 2012-231922 to 1959
- Oaths and bonds (Norton Township) · RG 68-1351902 to 1911 and from 1931 to 1943
- Optometrist register · RG 84-321910 to 1952
- Osteopathy register · RG 84-321897 to 1948
- Physician register · RG 84-321900 to 1952
- Physician and surgeon register · RG 84-321899 to 1957
- Professional registers (various) · RG 2012-231953 to 1985
- Specifications, contracts, and agreements · RG 84-321868 to 1943
- Surgery and midwifery register · RG 84-321899 to 1929
- Veterinarian register · RG 84-321900 to 1965
Poor Home / Relief Records
- Report of volunteer relief fund · RG 71-47*1862 to 1865
- Superintendent of Poor letterpress book · RG 79-1011899 to 1907
Prison Records
- Detroit House of Corrections, inmates held at · RG 84-321877 to 1930
- Jail records · RG 84-321873 to 1917
- List of prisoners · RG 84-321884
- Sheriff’s record · RG 84-321907 to 1916
Probate Records
- Estate case files · RG 2022-961869 to 1943
- Probate calendars · RG 2022-961839 to 1944
- Probate index · RG 2022-961862 to 1940
School Records
- Census records (Muskegon) · RG 2020-59#1920 to 1965
- Census field sheets · RG 88-351935 to 1951
- Eighth grade graduation records · RG 88-351942
- School inspector’s annual reports · RG 84-321862 to 1926
Tax Records
- Assessment rolls · RG 79-32*1859 to 1944
- Assessment rolls (Norton Township) · RG 62-281863 to 1890 and from 1900 to 1940
- Tax records · RG 84-321877 to 1879, from 1884, from 1887 to 1888, and from 1892
Vital Records
- Record of divorce proceedings · RG 84-311894 to 1947
Voter Records
- Register of electors (Norton Township) · RG 68-1351882 to 1908
- Statement of votes · RG 84-321859 to 1940
- Statement of votes in dispute · RG 84-321916 to 1944
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
- Muskegon 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, Muskegon" 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: Ottawa County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Ottawa County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1859, 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.