Sweetwater County, Wyoming Genealogy

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

Description
Sweetwater County is located in the most southwestern area of the state. It was named for the Sweetwater River.

County Courthouse
Sweetwater County Courthouse 80 W Flaming Gorge Way PO Box 730 Green River, WY 82935 Phone: 307.872.6400 Sweetwater County Website County Clerk has marriage records from 1864 and land records from 1876. Clerk of the District Court has divorce, probate and court records.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places
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:

Cemeteries
The following web site has additional information on Sweetwater county cemeteries.


 * Interment.net Wyoming cemetery records by county.

Territory and State Census Records

 * 1850 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; North Dakota was included in the 1850 Utah Territory Census - How to Use this Collection.
 * 1860 - 1910 - Wyoming Compiled Census at Ancestry.com — ($), index and images
 * 1860 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Wyoming was included in the 1860 Nebraska Territory Census - How to Use this Collection
 * 1869 - Wyoming Territorial Census at Sweetwater County GenWeb — index and images
 * 1870 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Wyoming Territory Census  - How to Use this Collection
 * 1880 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Wyoming Territory Census - How to Use this Collection

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for the state of Wyoming starting in 1890, although no records survived. The 1900 Census is the next Federal Census available. For links to Federal Census indexes, see Wyoming Census.

Church Records
Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Green River, McKinnon, Reliance, Rock Springs,Rock Springs 1st, Rock Springs 2nd, Superior, Winton
 * Finnish Lutheran Church Books at Sweetwater County GenWeb — images

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Funeral Homes
Vase Funeral Home 154 Elk St Rock Springs, WY 82901, USA Phone: 307-362-5607 Email: [mailto:vasefuneralhome@yahoo.com vasefuneralhome@yahoo.com] Website FoxFuneral Home 2800 Commercial Way Rock Springs, WY 82901, USA Phone: 307-362-3876 Email: [mailto:foxfuneralhome@hotmail.com foxfuneralhome@hotmail.com] Website

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1863 - 1908 - U.S. Homestead Records 1863-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images


 * BLM General Land Office Records

Local Histories

 * Letters of a Woman Homesteader at Google Books — free e-book by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
 * The Chinese massacre at Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, September 2, 1885 at Internet Archive — free e-book by Isaac H. Bromley
 * Sweetwater County Oral Histories at Wyoming State Archives
 * Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church Centennial - pdf at Diocese of Cheyenne

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Wyoming - shows boundary changes for Wyoming Counties
 * Historical Maps and Atlases of wyoming - maps and atlases of Wyoming
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map South Superior Sep 1920 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Sep 1890 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Apr 1894 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Jan 1903 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Jun 1907 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Jun 1912 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Rock Springs Sep 1920 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Green River Apr 1894 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Green River Jun 1907 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Green River May 1912 - at Library of Congress
 * Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Green River Oct 1920 - at Library of Congress

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Sweetwater County, Wyoming Genealogy for European and African American settlers included:
 * South Pass
 * Green River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * Sublette-Greenwood_Cutoff 1844 from South Pass, Wyoming to Fort Hall, Idaho
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah
 * Cherokee Trail 1850 from Salina, Oklahoma to Grainger/Fort Bridger, Wyoming
 * Union Pacific Railroad 1925 from Grainger, Wyoming via Boise to Portland, Oregon

Online Collections
These collections are unique to Wyoming. You will find nationwide databases for military records on U.S. Military Online Genealogy Records and Wyoming Military Records.

Civil War No known military units were raised specifically from Wyoming as it did not become a state until 1890. However men from the territories that became Wyoming fought in other units during the Civil War. World War I World War II For further information see Wyoming Military Records.
 * 1861 - 1865 at FamilySearch.— index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1883 List of Civil War Pensioners, Wyoming, 1883 - Index only
 * 1890 at FamilySearch.— index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1917 - 1918 at FamilySearch — Index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualties for Wyoming - Index only

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * Naturalization Index, 1881-1967 at Sweetwater County GenWeb — index

Newspapers
 Wyoming Newspapers Online Wyoming Newspaper Catalogs
 * Wyoming Newspapers.
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Wyoming newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Wyoming newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Wyoming newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Obituaries

 * Obituaries 1868-2018 at Sweetwater County GenWeb — transcribed obits

Other Records
Public Records

1882 Poll Book for Green River, Sweetwater County, Wyoming.

Periodicals

 * Union Pacific Coal Company Magazines at Internet Archive
 * Rock Springs High School Yearbooks at Internet Archive

Probate Records
The bulk of the probate case files from the 1870's to the 1940's have been transferred to the Wyoming State Archives in Cheyenne. Check their website for additional details.
 * Will Book 1, 1884-1951 at Sweetwater County GenWeb — index and images
 * Will Book 2, 1951-1969 at Sweetwater County GenWeb — index and images

School Records

 * 1917 Sweetwater County School Census at Sweetwater County GenWeb — index and images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Vital Records

 * 1908 - 1966 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Marriage

 * 1839 - 1957 Wyoming, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * Western States Marriage Index - Index, incomplete, over 924 marriages 7 Jun 1870 to 25 Jun 1904 list of counties included
 * 1867 - 1941 Wyoming Marriages 1867-1941 at FindMyPast ($), index.
 * 1877 - 1920 at FamilySearch— Index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1877 - 1920 Wyoming, Marriages, 1877-1920 at MyHeritage ($) — index.
 * Sweetwater County GenWeb Marriage index, formation of county to 2009 available as a spreadsheet
 * Wyoming Marriage Index at Internet Archive — scans of microfilm index
 * 1941-1966 Reclaim the Records: Wyoming Marriage Index at Archive.org - images of index

Death

 * Wyoming Death Index at Wyoming State Archives — index (currently contains only A-E, it is a work in progress)
 * Wyoming Death Index at Internet Archive — scans of microfilm index
 * Pre 1939-1952 Reclaim the Records: Wyoming Death Index at Archive.org - images of index

Divorce

 * Wyoming Divorce Index at Internet Archive — scans of microfilm index
 * Pre 1941-1952 Reclaim the Records: Wyoming Divorce Index at Archive.org - images of index
 * 1941-1969 Wyoming, U.S., Divorce Records, 1941-1969 at Ancestry - index & images ($)

Family History Centers

 * Green River Wyoming Family History Center
 * Rock Spring Wyoming Family History Center

Libraries
Sweetwater County Library 300 N 1st E St Green River, WY 82935, USA Phone: 307-875-3615 Director: Jason Grubb Email: [mailto:jgrubb@sweetwaterlibraries.com jgrubb@sweetwaterlibraries.com] Website

White Mountain Library 2935 Sweetwater Dr Rock Springs, WY 82901, USA Phone: 307-362-2665 Michelle Maser, Manager: 307-362-2665 x3120 Email: [mailto:mmaser@sweetwaterlibraries.com mmaser@sweetwaterlibraries.com] Website

Rock Springs Library 400 C St Rock Springs, WY 82901, USA Phone: 307-352-6667 Lindsey Travis, Manager: 307-352-6669 Email: [mailto:ltravis@sweetwaterlibraries.com ltravis@sweetwaterlibraries.com] Website

Museums
Rock Springs Historical Museum 201 B St. Rock Springs 82901 Various holdings including sporadic Polk city directories and high school yearbooks. Website

Sweetwater County Historical Museum 3 E. Flaming Gorge Way Green River 82935 Website

Societies
County, Township and City Societies

Sweetwater County Historical Society P. O. Box 25 Green River, WY 82935 Email: [mailto:ghsc@sweet.w.us ghsc@sweet.w.us] Website

Websites

 * Sweetwater County WYGenWeb
 * Sweetwater County, WY History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wyoming Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Genealogy Trails: Sweetwater County Site. A Volunteer project dedicated to making genealogy records free to the public. Includes links to births, marriages and deaths; newspaper stories obituaries, censuses, military data, and more.