Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Hood River 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 · State Archives and local offices1870–1978
- Birth Records · State Archives1907–1921
- Death Records · State Archives and online1907–1921
- Marriage Records · State Archives and online1908–1961
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2010
- Mortgage Records · State Archives and local offices1859–1987
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1957
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1877–2009
- Land Subdivision Records · Hood River County Library and local offices1883–2009
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1900–2000
- Foreclosure Records · State Archives and local offices1903–1932
- Land Title Registers · local offices1908–1967
- Mining Claim Records · State Archives, local offices and online1908–1987
- Water Rights Records · State Archives and local offices1908–1988
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1960–2003
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1967
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · State Archives and local offices1868–1989
- Probate Estate Records · State Archives1911–1934
- Probate Case Files · State Archives and local offices1930–2014
Naturalization
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives1880–1954
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives1909–1954
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives1913–1929
Military and pensions
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives and local offices1913–1937
- Military Records · State Archives, local offices and online1917–1965
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives and local offices1907–1993
Census
- Census Records · Hood River County Library and online1860–1950
Elections and voters
- Election Poll Books · State Archives and Hood River County History Museum1908–1922
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives1908–1992
Court records
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives and local offices1875–1965
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1890–1985
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives1894–1941
- Attachment Records · local offices1899–1931
- Justice Court Case Files · State Archives1900–1940
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1907–2014
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1908–1989
- Coroner and Inquest Records · State Archives1908–1926
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1908–1954
- County Court Judicial Journals · local offices1909–1929
Schools
- School District Records · Hood River County History Museum, local offices and online1865–1989
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Hood River County History Museum and local offices1890–1946
Other records
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · State Archives and local offices1890–1987
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Hood River County Library, local offices and online1899–2011
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1903–2012
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1909–1931
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1931
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1963
- County Officials Reports · local offices1913–1947
- County Budgets · local offices1915–2007
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1919–1935
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · Hood River County Library, local offices and online1921–2006
- Aerial Photographs · local offices1935–2003
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1954–1978
- Planning Commission Minutes · local offices1960–2006
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · State Archives, local offices and online1961–2014
- and 4 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
- Hood River 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: Hood River 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 Hood River County: coroner's reports, 1908–1926; insane commitments, 1908–1922; marriages, 1908–1947; naturalization certificates, 1913–1929; naturalization declarations of intentions, 1880–1937; naturalization petitions, 1909–1940; and more.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Hood River" 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: Wasco County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Wasco County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1908, 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.