Minnesota County Resources

This entry was originally written by Carol L. Maki and Michael John Neill for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of the Minnesota Family History Research series.

History of Minnesota

Minnesota Vital Records

Census Records for Minnesota

Background Sources for Minnesota

Minnesota Maps

Minnesota Land Records

Minnesota Probate Records

Minnesota Court Records

Minnesota Tax Records

Minnesota Cemetery Records

Minnesota Church Records

Minnesota Military Records

Minnesota Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections

Minnesota Archives, Libraries, and Societies

Minnesota Immigration

Minnesota Naturalization

Ethnic Groups of Minnesota

Minnesota County Resources

Map of Minnesota

Records at the county level are the responsibility of the following offices: office of the court administrator'birth, death, and marriage; county recorder'land records; office of the probate judge'probate files; and office of the court administrator'criminal and civil court records. Although years for birth, marriage, and death records indicated in the following chart are the earliest located in that county, not all records may start at that date and there may be different starting dates for different records within the county. The earliest year for probate records may be probate files or wills. Court records may be civil and/or criminal. In some counties, the earlier criminal files may be found in the civil court files.

For some counties there are two years for date of formation listed. The first is the year the county was created. The second is the year it was fully organized if it differs from the creation year. Under the heading 'Parent County/ies,' the name/s listed may be the county or counties from which the respective county was formed, or it may be names by which the county was originally known. 'Unorganized' denotes that it was formed from non-county areas. A county name in parentheses is the county to which the unorganized land may have been attached at that time. Counties listed with an asterisk (*) are not parent counties but other counties in which you may also find records for the respective county since it may have been 'attached' to that county for some period of time.

The files of the Minnesota Historical Society Research Center and the following have been consulted for county information:

• Dalquist, Alfred J. Minnesota Genealogical Journal. Brooklyn Park, Minn.: Park Genealogical Book Co., 1984'87.

• Pope, Wiley R. Tracing Your Ancestors in Minnesota: A Guide to the Sources. Vols. 1'8. St. Paul: Minnesota Family Trees, 1980'88. This source draws heavily on the WPA guides that were developed fifty years ago. Record sources have changed in the interim.

• The Minnesota Legislative Manual, 1989'90. St. Paul: Election Division, Secretary of State, 1989.

What follows is a guide to the various record sources and is not to be considered a definitive explanation for the peculiarities of each county's holdings.

County addresses were obtained from the Minnesota Department of Health [online], Center for Health Statistics, 'Addresses of County Registrars/Recorders' at www.health.state.mn.us/index.html.

Map	County	County Address	Date Formed	Parent County(ies)	Birth	Marriage	Death	Land	Probate	Court
D4	Aitkin	209 2nd St. NW, Aitkin 56431	1857 (1885)	Pine/Ramsey 1887/*Crow Wing/*Morrison	1874	1885	1885	1872	1890	1862
	Aitkin County was spelled Aiken until 1872
	Andy Johnson		1862	(as Toombs; renamed 1862; disestablished, 1864; renamed Wilkin, 1868) Pembina *Stearns/*Crow Wing/*Douglas
F5	Anoka	325 E. Main St., Anoka 55303	1857	Ramsey	1870	1858	1870	1857	1858	1858
D2	Becker	915 Lake Ave., Detroit Lakes 56501	1858 (1871)	Cass/Pembina/*Stearns/*Crow Wing/*Douglas	1871	1871	1871	1872	1872	1871
B3	Beltrami	619 Beltrami Ave. NW, Bemidji 56601	1866 (1897)	Itasca/Pembina/Polk/unorganized *Becker	1896	1897	1896	1874	1896	1897
F4	Benton	531 Dewey St., Foley 56329	1849	St. Croix/unorganized	1865	1850	1867	1850	1852	1850
	Big Sioux		1857'58 (abolished 1858)	Brown
F1	Big Stone	20 SE 2nd St., Ortonville 56278	1862 (1881)	Pierce *Renville/*Stevens	1881	1881	1881	1873	1881	1881
J3	Blue Earth	204 S. Fifth St., Mankato 56001	1853	Dahkota	1870	1865	1870	1853	1858	1854
	Breckenridge		1858'62	(renamed Clay, 1862) Pembina
B3	Brown	Box 248, New Ulm 56073	1855 (1856)	Blue Earth	1870	1857	1870	1857	1856	1857
	Buchanen		1857'61	(abolished 1861; became part of Pine) Pine *Chisago/*St. Louis
D5	Carlton	301 Walnut Ave., Carlton 55718	1857 (1870)	Pine/St. Louis	1870	1871	1870	1870	1870	1871
G4	Carver	600 E. Fourth St., Chaska 55318	1855 (1855)	Hennepin/Sibley	1870	1856	1870	1856	1857	1854
D3	Cass	Walker 56484	1851 (1872) (1897)	Dakota/Pembina/Mahkato/Wahnahta (abolished 1876)*Benton/*Stearns/*Crow Wing/*Morrison	1896	1897	1896	1864	1897	1888
	Disestablished 1876; became part of Crow Wing; reorganized, 1897.
G2	Chippewa	629 N. 11th St., Montevideo 56265	1862 (1869)	Davis/Pierce *Renville	1870	1870	1870	1870	1872	1870
F5	Chisago	313 N. Main, Center City 55012	1851 (1852)	Ramsey/Washington	1870	1858	1870	1852	1857	1858
D1	Clay	807 11th St. North, Moorhead 56560	1858	(as Breckenridge; renamed 1862) (1872) *Stearns/*Crow Wing/*Douglas/*Becker	1872	1872	1872	1864	1872	1872
C2	Clearwater	213 Main Ave. North, Bagley 56621	1902	Beltrami	1898	1903	1903	1903	1903	1903
B8	Cook	411 W. 2nd St., Grand Marais 55604	1874 (1897)	Lake/*St. Louis	1897	1897	1897			1892
H2	Cottonwood	900 Third Ave., Windom 56101	1857 (1873)	Brown *Redwood/*Watonwan	1871	1871	1871	1871	1871	1871
D4	Crow Wing	326 Laurel St., Brainerd 56401	1857	(disestablished 1858)-1866 (disestablished 1867) (1871)Ramsey *Morrison	1873	1871	1874	1857	1874	1871
	In 1858 Crow Wing was disorganized and attached to Morrison; in 1866 it was fully organized; again disestablished in 1867 and attached to Morrison; in 1871 it was fully organized.
H5	Dakota	1560 Hwy., 55 West, Hastings 55093	1849 (1853)	unorganized *Ramsey	1870	1853	1870	1852	1863	1853
	Davis		1855	(abolished 1862; became part of Chippewa and Lac Qui Parle) Cass/Nicolet/Pierce/Sibley *Stearns
J5	Dodge	22 E 6th St., Mantorville 55955	1855 (1855)	Rice/unorganized	1870	1858	1870	1856	1857	1859
	Doty		1855	(renamed Newton, 1855; abolished 1856; became part of St. Louis) Itasca
J4	Faribault	P.O. Box 130, Blue Earth 56013	1855 (1857)	Blue Earth	1870	1870	1870	1854	1858	1870
J6	Fillmore	101 Fillmore St., Preston 55965	1853	Wabasha	1870	1856	1870	1853	1857	1856
J5	Freeborn	411 S. Broadway, Albert Lea 56007	1855 (1857)	Blue Earth/Rice	1870	1857	1870	1854	1866	1857
H5	Goodhue	509 W. 5th St., Red Wing 55066	1853 (1854)	Dakota/Wabasha	1870	1854	1870	1853	1854	1854
E1	Grant	10 Second St. NE, Elbow Lake 56531	1868 (1883)	Stevens/Traverse/Wilkin *Douglas	1877	1869	1879	1872	1875	1872
G4	Hennepin	300 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis 55487	1852 (1852)	Dakota *Ramsey	1870	1853	1870	1848	1855	1853
J7	Houston	P.O. Box 29, Caledonia 55921	1854	Fillmore	1870	1854	1870	1856	1867	1857
C3	Hubbard	301 Court St., Park Rapids 56470	1883 (1887)	Cass *Wadena	1885	1884	1887	1883	1884	1884
F5	Isanti	555 18th Ave. SW, Cambridge 55008	1857	(disestablished 1858; reorganized, 1871)Ramsey/*St. Louis/*Anoka	1873	1871	1873	1857	1868	1880
C4	Itasca	123 Fourth St. N.E., Grand Rapids 55744	1849 (1857)	(disestablished 1858; reorganized, 1891) *Washington/*Benton/*Chisago/*Crow Wing/*Morrison/*St. Louis/*Aitkin	1893	1891	1894	1868	1898	1891
J2	Jackson	Box 209, Jackson 56143	1857 (1866)	(abolished, Sioux uprising 1862)Brown *Martin	1870	1868	1870	1866	1867	1871
E5	Kanabec	18 N. Vine, Mora 55051	1858 (1881)	Pine/*Chisago	1880	1885	1880	1859	1888	1882
G3	Kandiyohi	400 Benson Ave. SW, Wilmer 56201	1858 (1871)	Davis/Meeker/Pierce/Renville (disbanded 1866)(see Monongalia)	1870	1880	1870	1858	1867	1871
A1	Kittson	410 S. 5th St., Hallock 56728	1878 (1897)	(see Pembina)*Polk	1877	1881	1881	1879	1899	1897
A4	Koochiching	715 Fourth St., International Falls 56649	1906	Itasca	1906	1906	1906	1907	1907	1907
	Lac Qui Parle (old)		1862'68 (disbanded)	Davis/Pierce/*Renville
G1	Lac Qui Parle (present)	P.O. Box 132, Madison 56256	1871 (1873)	Redwood	1872	1872	1872	1871	1868	1885
B7	Lake	601 3rd Ave., Two Harbors 55616	1856 (1891)	(see St. Louis OLD)*Benton/*St. Louis	1891	1888	1891			1874
A3	Lake of the Woods	P.O. Box 808, Baudette 56623	1922	Beltrami	1922	1923	1923	1896	1923	1922
H4	Le Sueur	88 S. Park Ave., Le Center 56057	1853	Dakota	1870	1854	1870	1856	1853	1853
	Lincoln (old)		1861'68 (disbanded)	Renville/*McLeod
H1	Lincoln (present)	P.O. Box 119, Ivanhoe 56142	1873 (1881)	Lyon/*Redwood	1879	1879	1879	1874	1878	1880
H2	Lyon	607 West Main, Marshall 56258	1868 (1870) (1875)	Redwood (abolished 1873)	1874	1871	1874	1870	1890	1875
H2	Lyon	607 West Main, Marshall 56258	1868 (1870) (1875)	Redwood (abolished 1873)	1874	1871	1874	1870	1890	1875