Provisional and Territorial Records Guide
Individual County Histories
Information about the individual county
histories:
The individual county histories trace the
establishment and evolution of each of the
twenty-seven county governments of Oregon
Territory. The histores include information
concerning the founding of the county; the
designation of county boundaries; the location of
the county seat; the construction of the county
courthouse; the development of the county
government; and a description of the major
industrial geographical, demographic, and/or
historical features of the county.
These histories also include the Washington counties which originated as part of the Oregon Territory. Washington Territory was created on March 2, 1853 and thereby absorbed eight of Oregon's original counties.
Information about the records
inventories:
The listings of the Oregon State Archives'
record inventories for these counties follow each
description. The inventory for each county is
arranged alphabetically by series title. Each
series description includes a title and a
description of how the records are used (function);
types of records that may be included in each
category (physical content); type of information
that may be found (informational content);
significant changes to format, creator, or content;
inventory cut-off dates; and any restrictions that
a particular category may have regarding access by
the public. Because the organization of offices and
their functions, the contents of the records, or
the format of records may vary from county to
county, notes have been included, where necessary,
to indicate these differences.
For direct access to the series descriptions, view the QUICK LINK to the records descriptions.
For more information on the format of the series descriptions, view the USER'S GUIDE.
Oregon Counties
Benton
Clackamas
Clatsop
Columbia
Coos
Curry
Douglas
Jackson
Josephine
Lane
Linn
Marion
Multnomah
Polk
Tillamook
Umpqua
Wasco
Washington
Yamhill
Washington Counties
Clark
Island
Jefferson
King
Lewis
Pacific
Pierce
Thurston