Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Coos 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.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · Coos History Museum, local offices and online1853–1961
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1860–1977
- Birth Records · State Archives, local offices and online1888–1929
- Death Records · State Archives and local offices1906–1929
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2015
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1854–1984
- Land Title Registers · Coos History Museum and local offices1854–1972
- Mortgage Records · local offices1854–1965
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1854–2015
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1857–2001
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1866–1965
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1868–2010
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1875–1932
- Water Rights Records · local offices1899–1965
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1918–2015
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1944–1977
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · State Archives and local offices1852–2015
- Probate Registers · local offices1854–1979
- Dower Records · local offices1895
- Probate Estate Records · local offices1903–1913
Naturalization
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives and local offices1859–1980
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives and local offices1859–1981
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives and local offices1907–1929
Military and pensions
- Military Records · Oregon Historical Society and local offices1875–2008
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices1913–1944
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives, Coos History Museum, local offices and online1854–2011
Census
- Census Records · local offices and online1860–1990
Elections and voters
- Election Poll Books · local offices1906–1914
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1908–1981
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1853–2013
- Circuit Court Dockets · local offices1854–1995
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1854–1965
- Justice Court Dockets · Coos History Museum, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1854–1936
- County Court Case Files · local offices1859–1943
- County Court Judicial Journals · local offices1859–1979
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1860–1939
- Attachment Records · local offices1875–1923
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1875–1958
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices1893–2015
- Prisoner Registers · Coos History Museum1893–1896
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1929–1940
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Coos History Museum and local offices1878–1968
- School District Records · Coos History Museum and local offices1881–1977
Other records
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · local offices and online1854–2015
- Road and Bridge Records · Coos History Museum, local offices and online1854–2000
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1857–1945
- Married Women's Property Registers · State Archives1869–1891
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1875–1965
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1892–1965
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Coos History Museum, local offices and online1900–2014
- County Commissioners Orders and Ordinances · local offices and online1906–2014
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1909–1941
- County Fair Records · Coos History Museum and local offices1911–2012
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1962
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1964
- County Budgets · local offices1922–2007
- County Officials Reports · local offices1923–1965
- 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
- Coos 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: Coos 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 for probate, divorce, naturalization and other county records the State Archives has indexed.
- Provisional and Territorial Records Guide: Coos 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, Coos" 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: Jackson County, Umpqua County (extinct)
Check the parent county for earlier records: Jackson County
Later formed partly from Coos County: Curry County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1853, 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.