Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Lake 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 September 2015.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1855–1983
- Marriage Records · Lake County Library, Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1875–1972
Deeds and land
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1850–2014
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2014
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1998
- Corner Survey Records · local offices and online1869–1998
- Water Rights Records · Lake County Museum, local offices and online1870–2014
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1871–2002
- Mortgage Records · local offices1873–2002
- Land Subdivision Records · Lake County Museum, local offices and online1875–2015
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices and online1875–2014
- Land Title Registers · local offices1883–1924
- Foreclosure Records · State Archives, Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1910–1921
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1971
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · local offices1875–2012
- Probate Registers · local offices1875–1988
- Probate Estate Records · Lake County Museum and local offices1886–1949
Naturalization
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1875–1972
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1970
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1974
Military and pensions
- Military Records · State Archives and local offices1888–2002
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives and local offices1914–1936
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives, Lake County Museum and local offices1874–2012
Census
- Census Records · State Archives, Lake County Library, Schminck Memorial Museum, local offices and online1875–2010
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives, Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1978
- Election Poll Books · State Archives and Lake County Museum1887–1914
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · local offices1875–1983
- Circuit Court Dockets · Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1983
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1875–1982
- County Court Case Files · local offices1875–1940
- County Court Judicial Journals · Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1961
- Insane Commitment Records · Lake County Museum, Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1875–2003
- Judgment and Execution Records · Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1939
- Attachment Records · Lake County Museum and local offices1880–1925
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1881–1950
- Prisoner Registers · State Archives and local offices1894–1991
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1895–1941
- Justice Court Dockets · local offices1909–1942
Schools
- School District Records · Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1883–1966
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Lake County Museum, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1883–1978
Other records
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1874–1980
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · Schminck Memorial Museum, local offices and online1875–2007
- County Officials Reports · Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1875–1947
- Marks and Brands Records · State Archives, Lake County Museum and local offices1875–1935
- Road and Bridge Records · Schminck Memorial Museum and local offices1875–2005
- Married Women's Property Registers · local offices1876–1879
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1889–1972
- Animal Bounty Records · State Archives1909–1923
- Farm Name Registration Records · Lake County Museum and local offices1911–1920
- County Budgets · local offices1923–2006
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Lake County Museum, local offices and online1931–2013
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1933–1994
- County Fair Records · local offices1940–2015
- Aerial Photographs · local offices1952–2006
- 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
- Lake 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: Lake 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 Lake County: assessment records, 1875, 1890, and 1895; census entries, 1875; eligible voters [electors], 1887; military listings, 1900–1901; old age pensions, 1933–1935.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Lake" 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: Douglas County, Grant County, Jackson County, Wasco County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Douglas County, Grant County, Jackson County, Wasco County
Later formed partly from Lake County: Klamath County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1874, 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.