Records that survive
These are the record series from Pine 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
- Miscellaneous order books · Probate Court1872–1968
- Will records · Probate Court1872–1983
- Probate case files [microform] · Probate Court1884–1920
- Registers of Probate Actions · Probate Court1884–1969
- Final decrees of distribution · Probate Court1893–1983
Tax records
- Assessment Rolls · Assessor1874–1990
- Tax lists · County Auditor1880–1981
Court records
- Juvenile court records · Juvenile Court1912–1985
Schools
- Consolidation Files · Superintendent of Schools1876–1974
- Attendance certificates · Superintendent of Schools1894
- Superintendent's record book A · Superintendent of Schools1897–1912
- Examination record for teacher's certificates: Volume A · Superintendent of Schools1901–1919
- Record of teacher’s association work · Superintendent of Schools1903–1914
- Classification Reports · Superintendent of Schools1906–1969
- High school board examination record: Volume · Superintendent of Schools1911–1919
- Lists of teachers, superintendents and district clerks · Superintendent of Schools1911–1955
- Superintendent school officers record book B · Superintendent of Schools1912–1939
- School Census · Superintendent of Schools1914–1970
- Delinquent children register · Superintendent of Schools1915–1919
- Lists of rural teachers · Superintendent of Schools1918–1964
- Lists of school district clerks · Superintendent of Schools1935–1964
- Lists of school officers · Superintendent of Schools1939–1952
- and 5 more series in the full listing
Welfare and the poor
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Files · Welfare Department1936–1942
County government
- Subject files · County Auditor1870–2004
- Meeting minutes transcripts · Board of County Commissioners1871–1936
- Minute books · Board of County Commissioners1871–1901
- Warrant Registers · County Auditor1873–1972
- Road record books · County Auditor1874–1933
- Trial Balances · County Auditor1913–1959
- Resolutions · Board of County Commissioners1930–1943
- Planning Commission1965–2007
- Extension Committee1967–2001
- Solid Waste Advisory Committee1972–1995
- Adjustments Board1973–2006
- Parks and Recreation Commission1974–1979
- Chisago/Kanabec/Pine Community Health Services Advisory Committee1986–1994
- Nursing Service Advisory Committee1986–1992
- and 9 more series in the full listing
Other records
- Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA)1971–1989
- Onanegozie Resource Conservation and Development Area Council1986–1994
- Agriculture Council1988–1989
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
- Pine 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: Pine Countyfree
Everything the Society's library and archives hold for Pine 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 PINE under County; the years covered differ by county, and Scott and Washington counties don't take part.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Minnesota, Pine" 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: Chisago County, Ramsey County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Chisago County, Ramsey County
Later formed partly from Pine County: Aitkin County, Carlton County, Kanabec County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1856, 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.