Baker County, Oregon Genealogy
This article is about a northwest Oregon county. For other uses, see Baker.
Guide to Baker County Oregon genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
|Baker County, Oregon|
Location in the state of Oregon
Location of Oregon in the U.S.
|Founded||September 22, 1862|
|County Seat||Baker City|
|Address|| Baker County Courthouse|
Baker City, OR 97814
|Named for: Edward Dickinson Baker|
- 1 County Courthouse
- 2 Historical Facts
- 3 Boundary Changes
- 4 Trivia Tidbits
- 5 Resources
- 5.1 Biography
- 5.2 Cemeteries (Rural)
- 5.3 Census
- 5.4 Church History and Records (rural only)
- 5.5 Court Records
- 5.6 Directories
- 5.7 Emigration and Immigration
- 5.8 Migration
- 5.9 Gazetteers
- 5.10 Genealogy
- 5.11 History
- 5.12 Land and Property
- 5.13 Maps
- 5.14 Military History and Records
- 5.15 Newspapers
- 5.16 Obituaries
- 5.17 Pensions
- 5.18 Probate Records
- 5.19 Rivers and Waterways
- 5.20 Taxation
- 5.21 Vital Records
- 6 Societies, Libraries and Museums
- 7 Web Sites
- 8 References
County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Baker County Court House as of June/July 2010.
Baker County Court is structured differently. Check the County Records Inventory link for addresses for location of records (left column).
This courthouse has the reputation of being the cleanest county record depository in the state of Oregon.
- Record Loss: Some will books were lost in a county clerk's office fire in 1890s. One early marriage register is missing (covering 1862-1877) (as of 15 August 2012).
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at
Named for U.S. Senator Edward Dickinson Baker of Oregon, who was killed at the Battle of Ball's Bluff in the Civil War.
14 October 1864: Union County set off.
17 February 1887: Malheur County set off.
1 February 1901: The Panhandle area between the Powder River and the Wallowa Mountains was returned from Union County, forming the northeast corner of Baker County.
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. > Trivia Tidbits
An Illustrated history of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney counties WorldCat 5436806; FHL
([Spokane, Washington]: Western Historical Publishing Company, 1902).
Heavy on history (prehistoric to time of publication), heavy on biographies of prominent men, but little of genealogies and
Also available in other forms:
- Baker County Biographies USGenWeb Archives Project
- WorldCat 24186308
- eBook - HeritageQuestonline.com (LAR)
Thirty-one years in Baker County: a history of the county from 1861 to 1893; Isaac Hiatt WorldCat 841884; FHL
(Baker, Oregon: Baker County Historical Society and the Powder River Sportsmen's Club, 1970).
- Baker County, Oregon: reprints of records published in the Oregon Genealogical Society quarterly, volumes 21-22. 1982-1984 FHL 1049531
- Baker County Cemeteries USGenWeb Archives Project
Note: 1870, 1880, 1890 and 1900 censuses, the Panhandle of Baker County enumerations can be found in Union County when it was part of Union County.
- 1870 - the area between Baker City, Haines and the Blue Mountains, generally known as Wingville was overlooked and not enumerated.
Baker County 1870 Census USGenweb Archives Project
- Eastern Oregon 1870 U.S. Census: Baker County, Grant County, Umatilla County, Union County FHL
- 1880 - the portion that was later be Malheur County, all the places south of Malheur River including what is now Ontario, Vale, Nyssa, Owyhee, etc was not enumerated.
- Baker County 1880 Census USGenWeb Archives Project
Church History and Records (rural only)
- Widow's pension applications and ledger, Baker County, Oregon, 1913-1936 FHL
(Baker County Court, State of Oregon, 2001)
- Eastern Oregon directory, 1899-1900: a complete directory of Umatilla, Union and Baker counties; with the Portland business directory FHL Collection
- Baker City (Oregon) city directories, 1908-1935 FHL Collection
- Baker (Baker County, Oregon) city directory: including Baker County residents, rural routes, also a buyers' guide and a complete classified business directory, 1959- FHL Collection
Emigration and Immigration
- Ellis Island Passenger Arrival Records, 1892-1924, listing passengers who stated they are going to Baker County, Oregon
Early migration routes to and from Baker County, Oregon Genealogy for European and African American settlers included:
- The History of Baker County; Baker County Historical Society, pub. 1986. WorldCat 15218008; FHL Collection
([S.l.]: Baker County Historical Society (OR), 1986)
Little of biography and local history, more of family genealogies.
- Centennial pioneer families of Baker County, 1976 FHL Collection
Also see: Biography, Genealogy
Land and Property
Married Women's Separate Property in Baker County Original text from Works Progress Administration's booklet, USGenWeb Archives Project
- Hometown Locator for Baker County
Military History and Records
- Newspaper clippings USGenWeb Archives Project
Court records for the widows pensions
Note: some will books were lost in a small fire in the county clerk's office before 1900.
- Baker County wills USGenWeb Archives Project
Rivers and Waterways
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. >> Rivers and Waterways
- Baker County, [Oregon], assessment tax rolls, 1892-1897 FHL
- Baker City (Oregon) city directories FHL microfilm 2309792 Item 1
Tax lists are for Baker, Grant and Union counties 1908-1909, listed as last part of the volume.
Record of births and deaths: record of physicians, midwives and undertakers, 1916-1929 #FHL
Delayed Birth Certificates
- Birth Certificates USGenWeb Archives
- Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
- Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection
Societies, Libraries and Museums
Family History Centers
- Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
- Baker Oregon Family History Center
- Pine Valley Oregon Family History Center (Halfway)
- The Baker County ORGenWeb Project, a member of The ORGenWeb Project
- Oregon, Baker County Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)