Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Malheur 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 2017.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · State Archives1861–1978
- Marriage Records · local offices1880–1986
- Birth Records · State Archives and Oregon Historical Society1907–1939
- Death Records · State Archives and Oregon Historical Society1907–1939
Deeds and land
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1850–2010
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2012
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1863–1985
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1957
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1865–1998
- Mortgage Records · local offices1865–1985
- Water Rights Records · Rinehart Stone House Museum, Ontario Community Library and local offices1874–1992
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1887–2002
- Land Title Registers · State Archives and local offices1903–1987
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1922–1988
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1948–2003
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · local offices and online1886–2000
- Probate Registers · local offices1886–1892
Naturalization
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1861–1980
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices1861–1980
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices1906–1980
Military and pensions
- Military Records · local offices and online1917–1973
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · local offices and online1949–2015
Census
- Census Records · Rinehart Stone House Museum1900
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1940–1972
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1886–2015
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1887–1987
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives and local offices1887–1984
- County Court Judicial Journals · local offices1887–1980
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1887–2016
- Justice Court Dockets · Rinehart Stone House Museum and local offices1895–1957
- County Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1900–1918
- Adoption Records · State Archives and local offices1910–2016
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1910–1956
- Attachment Records · local offices1913–1924
- Coroner and Inquest Records · State Archives1928–1972
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1953–1968
Schools
- School District Records · Rinehart Stone House Museum, local offices and online1880–1961
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Rinehart Stone House Museum and local offices1893–1994
Other records
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1887–1969
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · local offices and online1887–2000
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1887–1991
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1889–1976
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1889–1971
- Marks and Brands Records · Rinehart Stone House Museum1895
- Aerial Photographs · Rinehart Stone House Museum, local offices and online1909–1978
- County Fair Records · Ontario Community Library and local offices1928–2015
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1961–2006
- County Budgets · local offices and online1963–2015
- Zoning Records · local offices and online1965–2006
- Clerk and Recorder Official Filings · local offices and online1969–1983
- County Comprehensive Plans · local offices1970–2006
- Planning Commission Minutes · local offices1970–2015
- and 1 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
- Malheur 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: Malheur 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 Malheur County: births, 1906–1908; divorces, 1887–1930; delayed births, 1861–1910.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Malheur" 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: Baker County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Baker County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1887, 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.