Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Tillamook 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 2018.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · local offices and online1854–1964
- Delayed Birth Records · State Archives and local offices1867–1994
- Birth Records · State Archives1903–1943
- Death Records · State Archives and Tillamook County Pioneer Museum1903–1945
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1850–2014
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices and online1854–1994
- Mortgage Records · local offices and online1854–1994
- Federal Land Grant Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1856–2014
- Land Title Registers · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1859–1970
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1860–2015
- Corner Survey Records · local offices and online1861–2014
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1868–2000
- Mining Claim Records · State Archives, local offices and online1880–1994
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1892–1926
- Water Rights Records · local offices1906–1994
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1948–1994
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · State Archives and local offices1859–2007
- Probate Registers · State Archives and local offices1859–1988
- Probate Estate Records · State Archives1877–1948
Naturalization
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives and local offices1860–1954
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives1888–1954
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives1907–1927
Military and pensions
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives and local offices1913–1965
- Military Records · State Archives and local offices1918–1994
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1882–2013
Census
- Census Records · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1850–1990
Elections and voters
- Election Poll Books · State Archives and Tillamook County Pioneer Museum1854–1914
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1890–1966
Court records
- County Court Case Files · State Archives1860–1982
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1862–1983
- Adoption Records · State Archives and local offices1865–2013
- County Court Judicial Journals · State Archives and local offices1865–1982
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1865–2013
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives and local offices1865–1948
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1866–1941
- Circuit Court Journals · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1873–1982
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1882–1983
- Attachment Records · State Archives and local offices1884–1929
- Coroner and Inquest Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1892–1965
- Justice Court Case Files · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum1915–1920
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1946–1966
Schools
- School District Records · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1865–1970
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1904–1991
Other records
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1854–2016
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · State Archives and local offices1860–1966
- Road and Bridge Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1868–2015
- County Officials Reports · State Archives1885–1904
- Marks and Brands Records · State Archives and Tillamook County Pioneer Museum1891–1943
- Medical Profession Registration Records · State Archives1891–1967
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1900–2000
- Animal Bounty Records · State Archives1901–1923
- Farm Name Registration Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum1911–1958
- County Fair Records · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1913–2007
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, local offices and online1916–2011
- Assumed Business Names Registers · State Archives1919–1964
- County Budgets · State Archives, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1921–2007
- Aerial Photographs · Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and local offices1946–1991
- 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
- Tillamook 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: Tillamook 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 Tillamook County: divorce case files, 1875–1926; delayed birth records, 1867–1910; naturalization records, 1860–1954; widow's pensions, 1913–1937; probate case files, 1859–1953.
- Provisional and Territorial Records Guide: Tillamook Countyfree
The county's early history and the records of its first years, before statehood in 1859, that survive at the State Archives.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Tillamook" 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: Clatsop County, Polk County, Yamhill County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Clatsop County, Polk County, Yamhill County
Later formed partly from Tillamook County: Lincoln County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1853, 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.