St. Louis City, Missouri Genealogy Records

Listed record inventories

Selected records and local publications, with source links and the coverage described by each repository. Consult the access note for gaps, formats and research requirements.

Open the source inventory or catalog

Repository access note: The Recorder’s Archives describes these City of St. Louis records and search/copy services; it is distinct from St. Louis County government. Early records predate the 1876 city–county separation. Birth and death spans are approximate. Copies and some staff searches have fees; the guide links request forms and land/marriage searches. Directory selections are library microfilm or microfiche holdings and do not imply online images.

Sources: St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds Archives; St. Louis County Library city directory holdings.

Where to find the records

• Find St. Louis City's official website

  We haven't checked this independent city's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the recorder of deeds, the probate court and the circuit clerk.

• The recorder of deeds

  Deeds and mortgages, and marriage records, usually from the county's beginning. Licenses were required from 1881; earlier books record the marriages themselves.

• The probate court

  Wills, estates, guardianships and curatorships. Since 1979 it has been the probate division of the circuit court.

• The circuit clerk

  Civil and criminal cases, divorces and, in many counties, naturalizations.

• The Missouri State Archives

  In Jefferson City: microfilm of county records from Missouri's counties and the City of St. Louis, and free online databases, including death certificates from 1910 that are more than 50 years old.

• Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1975free

  Search the Missouri State Archives' death certificate index by name and view the certificates.

• FamilySearch Catalogfree

  Search by place for "Missouri, St. Louis City" 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: St. Louis County (the city separated from the county in 1876)

Check the parent county for earlier records: St. Louis County

Records stay with the county that created them. Before 1876, many of this city's records may have been kept by the county it separated from, so search there too. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.