Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Union 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 2018.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · local offices1864–1968
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1870–1980
- Birth Records · local offices1905–1907
- Death Records · local offices1905–1907
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2015
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1864–1991
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1957
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1864–1969
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1864–2015
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1864–1991
- Mortgage Records · local offices1864–1991
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices1864–2011
- Water Rights Records · local offices1876–1981
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1885–1996
- Land Title Registers · local offices1894–1930
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1962–2003
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · local offices1864–1987
- Probate Case Files · local offices1865–2016
- Probate Estate Records · local offices1865–1979
Naturalization
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices1864–1975
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices and online1865–1975
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices and online1906–1973
Military and pensions
- Military Records · local offices1864–2015
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices1868–1933
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · local offices and online1873–1996
Elections and voters
- Election Poll Books · Union County Museum and local offices1900–1971
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1908–1964
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · local offices1864–1986
- County Court Case Files · local offices1864–1941
- County Court Judicial Journals · local offices1864–1957
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices1864–2016
- Attachment Records · local offices1865–1957
- Circuit Court Dockets · local offices1865–1983
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1865–1969
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1865–1959
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1865–1983
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1865–1896
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1885–1967
- Justice Court Dockets · local offices1888–1924
- Adoption Records · local offices1907–2016
Schools
- School District Records · Union County Museum and local offices1883–1958
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Union County Museum and local offices1889–1990
Other records
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1864–1991
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · Oregon Historical Society, local offices and online1864–2016
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1864–2011
- Married Women's Property Registers · local offices1865–1900
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1867–1915
- County Officials Reports · local offices1887–1968
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1887–1973
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1899–1922
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Union County Museum, local offices and online1910–2014
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1912–1950
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1964
- County Budgets · local offices and online1923–2016
- County Fair Records · local offices1947–2017
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1953–2016
- 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
- Union 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: Union 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, Union" 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
Later formed partly from Union County: Wallowa County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1864, 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.