Records that survive
These are the record series from Anoka County held by the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, taken from its finding aids for the county's offices, with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years. A span can include gaps.
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · Probate Court1858–1933
- Will Books · Probate Court1860–1971
- Final Decrees of Distribution · Probate Court1879–1971
- Insanity Records · Probate Court1895–1906
Military and pensions
- Wolf Bounty Record · County Auditor1898
Tax records
- Record of taxes paid [delinquent?] · Treasurer1857–1878
- Notice to taxpayers · Treasurer1873
Court records
- Juvenile Court Record Books · Juvenile Court1912–1972
Schools
- Clerk's annual reports to County Superintendent · Superintendent of Schools1892–1903
- School officers lists · Superintendent of Schools1930–1950
- Maps of reorganized school districts · Superintendent of Schools1947–1955
- School district reorganization election records · Superintendent of Schools1949–1952
- List of qualified electors for school district reorganization · Superintendent of Schools1952
- Summary statement of votes · Superintendent of Schools1952
Elections and voters
- Poll Lists · County Auditor1970–1972
Welfare and the poor
- Board meeting minutes · Welfare Board1937–1988
- Subject files · Welfare Board1938–1950
- Auditor's Report: Relief and Welfare Activities in Anoka County · County Auditor1939–1940
- Social Welfare Department: Audit Reports of the Anoka County Welfare Board · Welfare Board1939–1946
- Public Examiner: Audit Reports of Anoka County Welfare Board · Welfare Board1940–1965
- Correspondence of child welfare worker · Welfare Board1943–1952
- Notices of child placements · Welfare Board1943–1948
- Referrals of child neglect · Welfare Board1944–1945
- Monthly Reports of Caseloads and Expenditures · Welfare Board1967–1968
- Public Welfare Department: Audit Report of the Anoka County Food Stamp Program · Welfare Board1967
- Public Welfare Department: Audit Report of Anoka County Welfare Board · Welfare Board1971
County government
- Treasurer's record of orders paid · Treasurer1857–1873
- Treasurer's ledger · Treasurer1863–1882
- Treasurer's cashbook · Treasurer1878–1881
- Treasurer's record book · Treasurer1901–1907
- Trial balances · Treasurer1907–1919
- Hawkers' and peddlers' license certificates · County Auditor1915–1954
- Anoka Disaster Committee records · Welfare Board1939–1940
- Highway Commissioner's Orders · County Auditor1944–1969
- Auditor's Journal · County Auditor1951–1971
- Coon Creek Watershed District: Protection and Flood Prevention Project Detail Plans · County Auditor1970
- Fiscal Disparities Policy and Procedure Handbook · County Auditor1985
- Capital Improvement Plans · Board of County Commissioners1991–2008
Search the Historical Society's catalog for this county
Source: Minnesota Historical Society, government records finding aids. The Society holds only part of each county's records; most deeds and many court and vital records are still at the county. Minnesota began statewide registration of births in 1900 and of deaths in 1908.
Where to find the records
- Anoka County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county recorder, the district court and the Minnesota Historical Society, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county recorder
Deeds, mortgages and other land records from the county's beginning (the recorder was called the register of deeds until 1976). County birth and death records from 1870 on were first kept by the clerk of district court; in many counties they are now with the recorder, in others with the court administrator, and some recorders also have the marriage records.
- The district court
Civil and criminal cases, divorces and, in many counties, marriage licenses. Since Minnesota's courts were unified in the 1980s, probate (wills and estates) has been part of the district court as well.
- The Minnesota Historical Society
In St. Paul: many counties' older probate, tax, school and other records, the state censuses of 1865 to 1905, and statewide indexes to births (1900 to 1934) and deaths (1904 to 2001).
- Minnesota Historical Society catalog: Anoka Countyfree
Everything the Society's library and archives hold for Anoka County: county records, histories, directories, maps and more.
- Minnesota People Records Searchfree
The Historical Society's indexes to Minnesota birth records (1900–1934), death records (1904–2001) and the state censuses, with copies to order.
- Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS)free
A search of marriage records kept by the counties. Choose ANOKA under County; the years covered differ by county, and Scott and Washington counties don't take part.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Minnesota, Anoka" 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: Ramsey County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Ramsey County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1857, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Minnesota took its own census in 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905. They are indexed in the Historical Society's People Records Search (not every county appears in every year), and the 1905 census, like the 1895 census for men over 21, says how long each person had lived in the state and in the district, a clue to when a family arrived.