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.
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 |
| C2 | Clearwater | 213 Main Ave. North, Bagley 56621 | 1902 | Beltrami | 1898 | 1903 | 1903 | 1903 | 1903 | 1903 |
