Owyhee County, Idaho Genealogy

Owyhee County, Idaho was an original county of Idaho Territory. It was formed 31 December 1863, with Ruby City as its county seat. The county seat was moved to Silver City in 1867 and then in 1934 to its current seat of government -- Murphy, located near the middle of the northern edge of the county. It is a very rural county, noted mostly for mining, ranching, and farming. It is the second largest county in land area in Idaho, but has only slightly more than 10,000 residents.

Owyhee County Courthouse in Murphy Some of the towns and other populated areas in Owyhee County include Bruneau, Grand View, Homedale, Marsing, Murphy, Reynolds, and Silver City. Several other communities have existed and are no longer inhabited.

Many of the older court, land, naturalization, probate, pension, and vital records for Owyhee County have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and at the Idaho State Historical Society's Library in Boise. Details of the county records in these respective institutions can be obtained from their online catalogs or listings. Original records of those which have been microfilmed and of more recent records are in the county courthouse in Murphy.

Cemeteries of Owyhee County:
There are a number of cemeteries in Owyhee County. Those that have been identified are listed below, with their location and any links to abstracts of their records.

Directions to some of the cemeteries of Owyhee County are on the USGenWeb site for Owyhee County under Owyhee County Cemeteries.

Burials gathered by June Davies and Wilma Lewis Statham and published in a book entitled "Owyhee Gleanings" have been alphabetized together and are also avilable at the USGenWeb site for the county under "Owyhee Burials."

Newspapers of Owyhee County:
Several newspapers have been or are being published in Owyhee County. Copies of many of them are available at the Idaho State Historical Society Library in Boise.

Adjoining Counties:
Canyon County, Idaho; Ada County, Idaho; Elmore County, Idaho; Twin Falls County, Idaho; Elko County, Nevada; and Malheur County, Oregon.

Important Web Sites:

Official County Web Site -- in progress -- http://www.owyheecounty.net

USGenWeb --  http://www.rootsweb.com/~idowyhee/

Owyhee County Historical Society and Museum -- http://owyheemuseum.org