Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Yamhill 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 April 2017.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library and local offices1856–1978
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1870–1970
- Birth Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library and local offices1871–1944
- Death Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library and local offices1875–1944
Deeds and land
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1850–2015
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2013
- Federal Land Grant Records · State Archives, local offices and online1851–2006
- Corner Survey Records · local offices and online1852–1998
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1852–2010
- Land Title Registers · local offices1852–1962
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices and online1852–2012
- Deeds and Indexes · State Archives, local offices and online1853–2001
- Mortgage Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library, local offices and online1857–1976
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1870–1979
- Foreclosure Records · State Archives and local offices1891–1926
- Water Rights Records · local offices1905–1979
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · State Archives and local offices1849–1982
- Probate Case Files · State Archives and local offices1852–2011
- Probate Estate Records · State Archives and local offices1852–1961
Naturalization
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives1853–1959
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives1853–1968
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives and local offices1853–1959
Military and pensions
- Military Records · State Archives, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1864–2015
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives and local offices1896–1951
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives and Oregon Historical Society1853–1950
Census
- Census Records · State Archives, local offices and online1850–1994
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · State Archives and local offices1857–1962
- Election Poll Books · State Archives1900–1924
Court records
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives and local offices1843–1957
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1851–1941
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1852–1982
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1854–1983
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1857–1978
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives and local offices1857–1979
- Adoption Records · State Archives and local offices1859–2015
- County Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1859–1965
- County Court Judicial Journals · State Archives and local offices1859–1965
- Attachment Records · State Archives and local offices1860–1924
- Coroner and Inquest Records · State Archives and local offices1861–1940
- Prisoner Registers · Yamhill County Museum Research Library and local offices1888–1977
- Justice Court Case Files · State Archives1900–1945
Schools
- School District Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library (District Clerk's Record Books), Yamhill County Museum Research Library (Oregon School Register and Record Books), Yamhill County Museum Research Library (Other School Records) and local offices1861–1967
- Superintendent of Schools Records · State Archives and Yamhill County Museum Research Library1888–1951
Other records
- Road and Bridge Records · State Archives, local offices and online1852–2014
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · State Archives and local offices1857–2016
- Marks and Brands Records · State Archives and local offices1857–1951
- Married Women's Property Registers · State Archives and local offices1859–1900
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · State Archives, local offices and online1866–2009
- Medical Profession Registration Records · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library and local offices1881–1958
- Animal Bounty Records · State Archives1886–1924
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · State Archives, Yamhill County Museum Research Library, local offices and online1889–2016
- Farm Name Registration Records · State Archives and local offices1891–1965
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices and online1899–1966
- County Officials Reports · State Archives and local offices1903–1952
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1964
- County Budgets · local offices and online1916–2012
- Aerial Photographs · local offices1947–1978
- 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
- Yamhill 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: Yamhill 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 Yamhill County: divorces, 1857–1930; coroner's reports, 1861–1940; marriages, 1856–1875; naturalizations, 1849–1959; naturalizations, 1849–1959; old age pensions, 1933–1935; and more.
- Provisional and Territorial Records Guide: Yamhill 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, Yamhill" 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: One of the four original districts created by Oregon's Provisional Government in 1843
Later formed partly from Yamhill County: Tillamook County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1843, 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.