Records that survive
These are the record series from Washington 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.
Deeds and land
- Real Estate Tax Judgment Books · County Auditor1874–1949
Wills and estates
- Closed Originals · Probate Court1849–1868
- Letter Records · Probate Court1849–1907
- Probate Case Files and Registers · Probate Court1849–1949
- Registers of Actions · Probate Court1849–1886
- Will Books · Probate Court1849–1965
- Miscellaneous Order Books · Probate Court1877–1965
- Final Decrees of Distribution · Probate Court1882–1965
- Property inventories: County offices · County Auditor1921
- Closed Microfilm · Probate Court1925–1949
Tax records
- Account with State of Minnesota for taxes due and paid · County Auditor1850–1876
- Miscellaneous tax records · County Auditor1856–1862
- Tax Lists · County Auditor1861–1991
Court records
- Jail Registers · Sheriff1870–1967
Schools
- List of school board officers · Superintendent of Schools1887–1962
- Lists of teachers, principals, other school personnel · Superintendent of Schools1899–1963
- Teacher's institute programs · Superintendent of Schools1910–1915
- Washington County school contest: Premium list for school exhibits and spelling contests · Superintendent of Schools1914–1916
- List of graduates · Superintendent of Schools1919–1946
- Eighth grade commencement programs · Superintendent of Schools1936–1937
- Research paper · Superintendent of Schools1992
Elections and voters
- Primary election ballot, Republican Party · County Auditor1906–1908
- Election Records · County Auditor1922–1968
Welfare and the poor
- Poor Farm records · Poor Farm1864–1954
- Meeting minutes · Welfare Board1937–1969
- Survey reports · Welfare Board1946–1969
- Audit reports · Welfare Board1948–1961
County government
- Minutes · Board of County Commissioners1840–2018
- Treasurer's records · Treasurer1840–1933
- Oaths and bonds of county officials · County Auditor1847–1855
- Road records · County Auditor1847–1967
- Warrant registers · County Auditor1850–1966
- Estray notices · County Auditor1851–1887
- Chattel mortgages · County Auditor1855–1857
- Index to estray book · County Auditor1866–1884
- Trial balance books · County Auditor1891–1942
- Ferry licenses · County Auditor1908–1921
- Peddlers’ licenses · County Auditor1911–1956
- Agenda Packets · Board of County Commissioners1912–1993
- Auctioneers’ licenses, 1910-1914 · County Auditor1924–1964
- Subject files · County Auditor1939–1968
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
- Washington 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: Washington Countyfree
Everything the Society's library and archives hold for Washington 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 WASHINGTON under County; the years covered differ by county, and Scott and Washington counties don't take part.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Minnesota, Washington" 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: One of the nine counties created by Minnesota's first territorial legislature in 1849
Later formed partly from Washington County: Chisago County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1849, 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.