Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Barnes County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Land records
- County atlases and plat books · listed editions1910 (microfilm listed); 1928 (microfilm listed); 1952; 1958; 1963; 1969; 1973; 1977; 1982; 1985; 1989; 1991; 1996; 2004; 2011; 2019
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected county atlas and plat-book editions listed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Dates are publication years, not continuous record coverage. Editions marked microfilm listed are starred in the source. Shared-county notes are retained; malformed date tokens are omitted. Consult the repository for current access.
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
- Barnes County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county recorder, the clerk of the district court and the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county recorder
Deeds and other land records, and marriage licenses.
- The clerk of the district court
Probate (wills and estates), divorces and naturalizations; county courts were merged into the district courts in 1995.
- The State Historical Society of North Dakota
In Bismarck: the State Archives, with county records, naturalizations and newspapers.
- State Historical Society of North Dakota (State Archives)free
The State Archives in Bismarck, with county records, naturalizations, newspapers and photographs.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "North Dakota, Barnes" 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: Pembina County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Pembina County
Later formed partly from Barnes County: Griggs County, Traill County
The Atlas data for Barnes County begins in 1881, later than the 1873 date above, so this is the earliest boundary on file, not its original one.
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1873, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Until 1889 North and South Dakota were one territory, so early records may be filed under Dakota Territory. Many settlers claimed land under the Homestead Act; their federal case files are at the National Archives.