Grant County, Oregon Genealogy

Guide to Grant County, Oregon ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as an army officer in the Oregon Territory, and at the time of the county's creation was a Union general in the American Civil War. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Grant County Courthouse 200 South Humbolt Street Canyon City, Ore 97820 541-575-1675 County Clerk has birth and death records 1915-1929 marriage, land and probate records from 1864, military records from 1872 and naturalization records  1907-1913 Clerk Circuit Cout has divorce.

County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Grant County Court House as of July 2009.

Grant County Court is structured differently. Check the County Records Inventory link for addresses for location of records (left column).

Historical Facts
Named for General Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army at the time.

Gold was discovered in what is now Canyon Creek in 1862, bringing a gold rush into the area.

Records Loss

 * 1870, 1885, 1950 Fires burned the courthouse and some records were damaged.
 * Fire destroyed some pre 1900 marriage records.

Parent Counties
14 October 1864: Grant county was created from Wasco and Umatilla Counties.

Boundary Changes
17 February 1899: Wheeler County set off.

23 February 1899: Harney County set off.

For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Places / Localities
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator

The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Defunct Post Offices
The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.
 * Alamo: A Spanish word meaning poplar or cottonwood tree, was made famous in American history in 1836. It is not known if it was named after the Alamo mine which was nearby or after the Texan one. The post office was established May 19, 1900, with Fred McCoy first postmaster. Available records are incomplete and presumed not much after 1905. The post office served mostly the gold mines located on Clear Creek, Olive Creek and Beaver Creek and the placer miners.

Trivia Tidbits
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. &gt; Trivia Tidbits

Biography

 * An Illustrated history of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney counties: with a brief outline of the early history of the state Oregon (1902)
 * The History of Grant County, Oregon, 1862-1983
 * Index to above
 * U.S. Biographies

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Swick aka Weberg Ranch

This is a very old, unmarked pioneer cemetery that is fenced off from the existing ranch (formerly known as the Weberg Ranch cira 1900-1960. From Suplee, go south on Weberg road about 5 miles and turn east on an unmarked ranch trail leading to the unmarked cemetery (approx 1 mile through the cattle grazing field). The turn is just past the old Weberg ranch house on the left just after crossing the stream culvert. Passable only in summer, dry conditions-SUV or Pickup. Just east of Crook County/Grant County border line

Federal
1870 The portion that is now Harney County was not enumerated.


 * Eastern Oregon 1870 U.S. Census: Baker County, Grant County, Umatilla County, Union County
 * United States 1870

1880 The portion that is now Harney County was not enumerated. This includes what is now Burns, Harney, etc.


 * The Federal census of 1880 for Grant County, Oregon
 * Grant County, Oregon 1880 census
 * United States 1880

1890 Loss of 1890 Census records

1900
 * United States 1900

1910
 * United States 1910
 * United States 1910 Census Ancestry $

1920
 * United States 1920
 * United States 1920 Census Ancestry $

1930


 * United States 1930
 * United States 1930 Census Ancestry $

1940 Open Release to the Public, March/April 2012.

Church History and Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * Divorce case files, 1872-1923

Directories

 * Baker City (Oregon) city directories, including Grant County

Emigration and Immigration

 * Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 MyHeritage ($).

Genealogy
Biography

History
Biography

Land and Property
Taxation

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military History and Records

 * Military list for years 1872-1874 as per return of J.W. King, assessor, and military roll, 1887-1898 "Military roll" is on spine of books and printed at the top of each page as a running title, however, there is no military information and only names and precincts are listed. 1900 records also have "State poll tax roll" handwritten across top of pages.

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index

World War I

 * 1919-1920 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Blue Mountain Eagle (Grant County Paper)
 * Newspaper Archives ($)
 * Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Rivers and Waterways
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. &gt;&gt; Rivers and Waterways

Taxation

 * Assessor's plat book, 1872-1898
 * Delinquent tax roll of Grant County, Oregon, 1884-1887

Vital Records

 * Social Security Death Index, begins about 1962 to at least 2 months ago.

See application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Birth Records

 * 1842-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images (*); Also at: Ancestry
 * 1860-1952 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1876-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Delayed Birth Certificates

Marriage Records

 * 1826-1975 Oregon, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1842-1917 Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1917 at Ancestry - index and images ($); Also at: 
 * 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
 * 1906-1968 Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1968 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
 * Marriages or marriage licenses issued for Grant County, Oregon covering from 1865 to 1900 inclusive and some marriages from 1900 to 1908 (not inclusive)
 * Grant County, Oregon marriages [1900-2000]
 * Western States Marriage Index

Voting Records
Military History and Records

Societies, Libraries and Museums
Grant County Historical Society and Museum 101 S Canyon City Blvd Canyon City, OR 97820 541-575-0362 Website Facebook Page

Grant County Library 507 S Canyon Blvd John Day, OR 97845 541-575-1992 Website Facebook Page

Family History Centers

 * Baker Oregon Family History Center
 * John Day Oregon Family History Center
 * La Grande Oregon Family History Center
 * Ontario Oregon Family History Center
 * Pine Valley Oregon Family History Center
 * Prineville Oregon Family History Center
 * Weiser Idaho Family History Center


 * The Genealogical Forum of Oregon - an affiliate library
 * Oregon Genealogical Society - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Grant County GenWeb Project, part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project (backup site)
 * Grant County Oregon History and Genealogy