Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Harney 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 July 2014.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1860–1961
- Marriage Records · local offices and online1889–1966
Deeds and land
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1850–1998
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2010
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1957
- Water Rights Records · local offices and online1870–1991
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices and online1871–1984
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1875–1974
- Mortgage Records · local offices and online1880–1984
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1880–1994
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices1885–2010
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1895–1929
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1980–1997
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · local offices and online1887–1984
- Probate Registers · local offices and online1889
- Probate Estate Records · local offices and online1903–1958
Naturalization
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1889–1929
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices and online1889–1978
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices and online1889–1978
Military and pensions
- Military Records · local offices1889–1984
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices1889–1963
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives and local offices1885–2002
Census
- Census Records · local offices and online1900–2002
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1892–1963
- Election Poll Books · local offices1900–1919
Court records
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1887–1957
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1888–1985
- Attachment Records · local offices1889–1951
- Circuit Court Dockets · local offices1889–1984
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1889–1984
- County Court Judicial Journals · local offices and online1889–1979
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices1889–1988
- Justice Court Dockets · local offices1890–1955
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1898–1959
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1905
- County Court Case Files · local offices1921–1927
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1922–1959
Schools
- School District Records · Harney County Historical Museum, Harney Education Service District Library (District Clerk's Records), Harney Education Service District Library (Oregon School Registers), Harney Education Service District Library (Miscellaneous Records) and local offices1875–1969
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Harney Education Service District Library1896–1965
Other records
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1884–2010
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices and online1889–1979
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · State Archives, local offices and online1889–2014
- County Officials Reports · local offices1889–1958
- Marks and Brands Records · Harney County Historical Museum and local offices1889–1949
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1889–1960
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · State Archives, Harney County Historical Museum, local offices and online1890–2002
- County Fair Records · local offices1905–1998
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1909–1921
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1912–1920
- County Budgets · local offices1940–1997
- Aerial Photographs · Harney County Historical Museum and local offices1950–1994
- Clerk and Recorder Official Filings · local offices and online1951–1984
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1972–2014
- and 3 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
- Harney 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: Harney 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.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Harney" 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: Grant County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Grant County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1889, 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.