Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Columbia County's records, with where each is kept now (the State Archives, a county office, or a local museum or library) and the earliest and latest years. A span can include gaps. The county's inventory was taken in May 2017.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · State Archives, local offices and online1854–1961
- Delayed Birth Records · State Archives1871–1971
- Birth Records · State Archives1907–1929
- Death Records · State Archives1907–1929
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2015
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1853–2011
- Deeds and Indexes · State Archives, local offices and online1854–1988
- Federal Land Grant Records · State Archives, local offices and online1854–1957
- Mortgage Records · local offices1854–1988
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1856–2015
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1867–2015
- Foreclosure Records · State Archives, local offices and online1869–1936
- Land Title Registers · State Archives and local offices1872–1991
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1885–1992
- Water Rights Records · local offices1916–1979
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1969–2000
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · State Archives and local offices1850–2013
- Probate Registers · State Archives and local offices1854–1987
- Probate Estate Records · State Archives1903–1923
- Dower Records · State Archives1905–1942
Naturalization
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives and local offices1854–1956
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives1859–1954
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives1891–1956
Military and pensions
- Military Records · State Archives and local offices1887–1988
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives and local offices1889–1975
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives, local offices and online1854–2007
Census
- Census Records · State Archives and local offices1850–1905
Elections and voters
- Election Poll Books · State Archives and local offices1854–1914
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives and local offices1854–1964
Court records
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives and local offices1851–1931
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1854–1991
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1854–1989
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives and local offices1854–1983
- County Court Judicial Journals · State Archives and local offices1854–1975
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1857–1960
- County Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1867–1900
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1874–2013
- Justice Court Case Files · State Archives1878–1941
- Coroner and Inquest Records · State Archives1880–1958
- Attachment Records · local offices1886–1997
- Adoption Records · State Archives and local offices1889–2013
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1892–1960
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · State Archives and local offices1875–1989
- School District Records · State Archives and local offices1886–1967
Other records
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · State Archives, local offices and online1854–1969
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · local offices and online1854–2008
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices and online1854–2015
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · local offices and online1865–2016
- Married Women's Property Registers · State Archives and local offices1874–1904
- County Officials Reports · local offices1884–1989
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1888–1949
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1889–1970
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1901–1981
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1963
- Assumed Business Names Registers1913–1964
- County Budgets · local offices and online1922–2015
- Aerial Photographs · local offices and online1937–1996
- County Fair Records · local offices1940–2015
- and 5 more series in the full listing
See the full inventory at the Oregon State Archives
Source: Oregon State Archives, Oregon Historical County Records Guide. Records can move after an inventory is taken, so ask before you visit. Oregon began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1903.
Where to find the records
- Columbia County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk and the circuit court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Deeds and other land records, and marriage licenses and records.
- The circuit court
Civil and criminal cases, divorces, adoptions and, in most counties, wills and estates. In a few counties the county court still handles probate, and elsewhere older probate records may carry the county court's name.
- The Oregon State Archives
In Salem: older county records moved from the courthouses (many probate, court and naturalization files), the Oregon Historical Records Index, and the records of the provisional and territorial governments.
- Oregon State Archives: Columbia County records inventoryfree
Every record series the archives inventoried for this county, with each volume's years and where it's kept.
- Oregon Historical Records Indexfree
Search by name. Indexed for Columbia County: provisional and territorial government tax roll entries, ca.1846–ca.1859; census entries, 1865; coroner's reports, 1911–1958; delayed birth records, 1863–1918; insane commitment case files, 1874–1943; marriages, 1854–1961; and more.
- Provisional and Territorial Records Guide: Columbia Countyfree
The county's early history and the records of its first years, before statehood in 1859, that survive at the State Archives.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Columbia" 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: Washington County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Washington County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1854, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Settlers who reached Oregon by December 1, 1855 could claim land under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 and its amendments; the earliest arrivals could claim the most. The claim files, at the National Archives, often give a settler's birth date and birthplace and the date and place of a marriage, because a married couple could claim twice as much land. Earlier provisional government land claims (1845–1849) are at the Oregon State Archives.