Idaho Genealogy Search

Idaho family history begins with the 1860s gold rush to the Clearwater and Boise basins, the Mormon settlements of the southeast from 1860 and the railroad towns of the 1880s, and the records follow: county deed and mining books from the territory's founding in 1863, the vital records that began statewide in 1911, and the collections of the Idaho State Archives in Boise. Idaho took no state censuses, but the territorial county censuses and the federal censuses from 1870 cover the settlement years.

Idaho's death index from 1911 to 1959 is free online through the State Archives, and southeastern Idaho families appear heavily in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints records at FamilySearch.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Idaho statewide genealogy links

• Idaho State Historical Society Public Archives and Research Library
• Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Bureau of Vital RecordsObtain Idaho Vital Records
• Idaho State Archives and Libraries SearchIdaho Archives and Libraries Search
• Libraries Linking Idaho DatabasesLibrary Genealogical Resources
• Idaho State Historical Society Digital Archives Naturalization RecordsSearch Idaho Historical Naturalization Records
• Idaho Public Archives and Research Library Historical RecordsIdaho Historical Digital Records Library
• State Idaho Archives and RequestsIdaho Genealogy Research at the National Archives

Idaho began statewide birth and death registration in 1911, with a few counties keeping records from 1907, and the Idaho Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics in Boise holds the certificates. Birth records are restricted for 100 years and death records for 50, and the State Archives holds public death certificates with a free online index covering 1911 to 1959. Marriage licenses were issued by each county recorder from the county's founding, and the State Archives holds a statewide marriage index, and divorce records sit with the district court clerk.

• Idaho Bureau of Vital RecordsBirth, death, marriage and divorce certificates from 1911
• Idaho State ArchivesDeath index 1911 to 1959, marriage index and county records
• Idaho Vital Records guideHow to order certificates and what is public

The Idaho State Archives holds territorial and state penitentiary registers, Idaho National Guard and World War I service records, county records on microfilm, mining district books, water rights and naturalization records from the district courts, and its research center in Boise offers free assistance. Federal land patents and homestead entries for Idaho are at the General Land Office site, and the National Archives at Seattle holds Idaho's federal court, land office and Bureau of Indian Affairs records, including the Nez Perce, Coeur d'Alene and Shoshone-Bannock agency files. The Idaho Digital Newspaper Project's titles on Chronicling America carry mining camp and early statehood news.

• Idaho State Historical SocietyArchives, research center and digital collections
• Bureau of Land Management General Land Office recordsFederal land patents and homesteads for Idaho
• National Archives at SeattleFederal court, land and Indian agency records for Idaho

Idaho county recorders hold deeds, mortgages, mining claims and marriage licenses from each county's founding, with Ada, Kootenai and other large counties posting indexes online, and the district court clerks hold probate, divorce and civil case files, with older probate files often at the State Archives. Idaho's 44 counties formed from the original four territorial counties, so 1860s and 1870s records for a family in Latah or Bonneville sit in Nez Perce or Bingham county books.

• Idaho County Public RecordsCounty recorders and district court clerks for all 44 counties
• Idaho Court RecordsiCourt case searches and probate records

• National Archives, genealogyCensus, military, immigration and land records
• Library of Congress, genealogy guidesResearch guides for family history