Vital Records
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Oregon Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death records, also referred to as vital records, provide details about significant occasions in your ancestors life. Vital records, generally held by a civic authority, can provide you a much more complete picture of one’s ancestor, enable you to differentiate between two people with the identical name, and enable you to uncover links to a completely new generation. They can comprise of information and facts like the event date and place, parents’ names, profession and residence. The cause of death is also included in many Oregon death records.

Oregon vital records really are a foundation of Oregon genealogy and family history research because they were typically documented at or near the time of the event, making the record more likely to be correct. This page contains links, information and facts that can help you obtain copies from Oregon state and county vital records keepers. Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research.

Oregon Vital Records Office, issues, documents, and stores certified copies of vital records including birth, marriage, divorce death certificates for occurrences that took place in Oregon.  To verify current fees and information the telephone number is (971) 673-1190. The fee for a all record certified copyies are $20, additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $15 each.

  • Ordering Oregon Birth and Death Certificates: The State Vital Records Office has birth records from 1903 to present. The City of Portland has death records from 1862 to 1902 and statewide death records from 1903 to 1955.
  • Ordering Oregon Marriage Certificates: The State Vital Records Office has marriage records from 1911 to present. If the marriage records are not available at the Vital Records office, they should be available from the County Clerk in county where license was issued. County Clerks also have some records before 1906. The fee for the copy varies. Some older county records have been transferred to the Oregon State Archives, see below.
  • Ordering Oregon Divorce Certificates: The State Vital Records Office has divorce records from 1925 to present. If the divorce records are not available at the Vital Records office, they should be available from the County Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the divorce decree was granted. The fee for the copy varies.

How to Order Oregon Vital Records

  • Physical Address: Oregon Vital Records, 800 NE Oregon Street, Ste 205, Portland, OR 97293; (971) 673-1190, Fax: (503) 234-8417
  • Mailing Address: Oregon Vital Records, P.O. Box 14050, Portland, OR 97293-0050. All mail orders should include a Personal check or money order made payable to OHA/Vital Records. Do not send cash.
  • Website Address: http://public.health.oregon.gov/
  • Ordering Vital Records Online – get the certificates within 2-5 days with a credit or debit card from USAVital.com or VitalChek.com
  • Ordering Vital Records by Mail: You can download an application online for Oregon Birth CertificateMarriage CertificateDivorce CertificateDeath Certificate Applications. Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for processing of all type of certificates ordered through the mail.

Oregon State Archives

Oregon State Archives has birth records for the City of Portland from 1864 to 1902 and statewide delayed birth records from 1845 to 1902.

Background of Oregon Vital Records

Deaths and births in Oregon were not recorded on a statewide level until July of 1903. There years later, in 1906, the state also started recording marriages. However, they didn’t start statewide divorce certificate recording until 1925. The Oregon Health Services, Center for Health Statistics has all of those records on file.

The Oregon Historical Records Index from the Oregon State Archives has a large collection of vital records on file. So does the Oregon State Library. A complete death index and a later marriage index are available at the Oregon Historical Society, along with a later divorce index. The Salt Lake City Family History Library (FHL) has vital records on microfilm. Those records include marriages that took place from 1906 to 1924 and deaths that occurred from 1903 to 2000. Some county records have also been indexed by the FHL

Searchable Oregon Databases and other Helpful Links