Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Grant 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 August 2015.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices and online1858–1975
- Marriage Records · State Archives, Grant County Historical Society Museum, local offices and online1864–2000
- Birth Records · local offices1894–1929
- Death Records · local offices1915–1929
Deeds and land
- Mining Claim Records · State Archives, local offices and online1850–2011
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · Grant County Historical Society Museum, local offices and online1850–1997
- Water Rights Records · local offices and online1862–1985
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices and online1864–1997
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1957
- Mortgage Records · local offices1864–1990
- Land Title Registers · local offices and online1876–1970
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1895–1985
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1895–1988
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1896–1930
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1900–2002
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1965
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · local offices and online1864–1879
- Probate Case Files · local offices1882–1973
- Probate Estate Records · local offices1903–1928
Naturalization
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices and online1854–1972
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices and online1872–1969
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1907–1969
Military and pensions
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices and online1865–1936
- Military Records · State Archives and local offices1872–2009
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives and local offices1864–2012
Census
- Census Records · local offices1880–1917
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives and local offices1872–1975
- Election Poll Books · local offices1913–1914
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1864–1986
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1864–1986
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives1864–1909
- County Court Case Files · local offices1864–1907
- County Court Judicial Journals · Oregon Historical Society and local offices1864–1919
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices and online1865–2005
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives and local offices1865–1984
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices and online1867–1955
- Attachment Records · local offices1872–1944
- Justice Court Case Files · Grant County Historical Society Museum and local offices1875–1934
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives, Grant County Historical Museum and local offices1878–1946
- Prisoner Registers · Oregon State Sheriffs' Association Museum and local offices1888–1969
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · local offices1864–2004
- School District Records · Grant County Historical Society Museum, DeWitt Museum (District Clerk's Record Books), DeWitt Museum (Oregon School Register and Record Books) and local offices1891–1969
Other records
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1862–2011
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1864–1971
- Marks and Brands Records · State Archives, Grant County Historical Society Museum and local offices1866–1949
- County Officials Reports · local offices1868–1984
- Married Women's Property Registers · local offices and online1876–1908
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · State Archives, local offices and online1882–2014
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1888–1972
- Animal Bounty Records · Grant County Historical Society Museum and local offices1895–1948
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1963
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1964
- County Budgets · local offices1916–1999
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1920–2002
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · local offices and online1930–2009
- Aerial Photographs · local offices1939–1975
- 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
- Grant 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: Grant 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 Grant County: divorce case files, 1872–1922.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Grant" 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: Umatilla County, Wasco County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Umatilla County, Wasco County
Later formed partly from Grant County: Harney County, Lake County, Wheeler County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1864, 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.