Arizona Historical Societies

This directory lists 6 historical societies, museums, and archives in Arizona, including the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum north of Phoenix. Below the listings you will find a working guide to the state records that matter most for family and property research: the state archives in Phoenix, the free online birth and death certificates, county recorder deeds, and the digitized newspapers that go back to the first Arizona paper in 1859.

Arizona was carved out of New Mexico Territory on February 24, 1863, and did not become a state until February 14, 1912, the last of the contiguous forty-eight. Record keeping reflects that late start: births and deaths were not registered statewide until July 1909, and the 1890 federal census for Arizona is lost. On the other hand, an 1864 territorial law put marriage records in county hands from the very beginning, so county courthouses hold marriages that predate statehood by decades.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in Arizona

Start in Phoenix. The Arizona State Archives, a unit of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, is at 1901 W. Madison St. It holds the records that counties and territorial agencies transferred to the state: tax rolls, brand registrations, coroner records, voter registers, prison records, court marriage licenses, wills, and probate case files, along with roughly 32,000 Arizona maps and 180,000 photographs. The Arizona State Library shares the same building and keeps census microfilm, immigration and naturalization material, county histories, and genealogical periodicals.

• Arizona Historical Society: the Tucson library at 949 E. 2nd St. holds manuscripts from 1860 to the present, oral histories, maps, photographs, and a Mexican and early Arizona collection. Its stated strengths are the territorial era, southern Arizona and the borderlands, ranching, mining, military, and genealogy. Library holdings are split among Tucson, the Arizona Heritage Center in Tempe, and Cline Library at Northern Arizona University, and all reading rooms are open by appointment only. See the AHS Library and Archives page before you travel.
• University of Arizona Special Collections, 1510 E. University Blvd., Tucson: rare books, manuscripts, and photographs on Arizona and the Southwest, plus a Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection.
• Arizona State University Library, Tempe: the Carl Hayden Archives, with about 8,000 feet of manuscripts, 30,000 books, and 500,000 photographs.
• Northern Arizona University Cline Library, Flagstaff: photographs, archives, and oral histories for northern Arizona, and one of the three AHS library sites.

Arizona birth, death, marriage, and divorce records

Statewide registration of births and deaths began in July 1909, but general compliance was not reached until about 1926, so a birth in 1912 may simply never have been recorded. Certified copies come from the Bureau of Vital Records of the Arizona Department of Health Services, 150 N. 18th Ave., Suite 120, Phoenix, or from the county health department in the county where the event occurred.

For older records you do not need to order anything. The state's free Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates site posts images of birth records from 1855 up to 75 years ago and death certificates from 1844 up to 50 years ago. Anything before 1909 exists only where a county or town kept its own register, so gaps are normal.

Marriage and divorce records are not held by the vital records office at all. Since the 1864 territorial law, marriages have been a county matter, and today both marriage licenses and divorce decrees are kept by the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the license was issued or the decree was granted. The State Archives also holds some court marriage license files transferred from the counties.

Land, deed, and property records

Arizona is a public-land (federal-domain) state. The first transfer of a parcel from the United States to a private owner was a patent, and those patents are indexed by name on the BLM General Land Office Records site; you need only the state and the patentee's name to search. The original patents and tract books are housed at the BLM Arizona State Office, and homestead entries for 1863-1908 are indexed with images on FamilySearch and Ancestry.

Southern Arizona has an older layer. Grants made by Spain (to 1821) and Mexico (1821-1848) had to be confirmed after the Gadsden Purchase, first by the U.S. Surveyor General (1855-1890) and then by the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims (1891-1903). If a ranch or townsite traces to a Spanish or Mexican grant, those confirmation files are where the chain begins.

Once land was in private hands, every deed, mortgage, and subdivision plat was recorded by the County Recorder of the county where the parcel lies. Arizona has only 15 counties, so a single recorder's office may cover an enormous area; the State Archives' county tax rolls can help you confirm who owned a parcel in a given year before you request deed copies.

Newspapers and city directories

The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records holds the largest collection of historic Arizona newspapers in the state, starting with the first paper published in 1859. Its Arizona Memory Project, launched in 2006 and now holding nearly 280,000 items, includes a newspaper section covering 1859 to 1989 with more than 120 titles from all 15 counties. Every issue is text searchable, which makes it the first stop for obituaries, legal notices, and mining-camp news.

Chronicling America at the Library of Congress also carries Arizona titles, among them the Graham Guardian (Safford, 1895-1923) and the Mohave County Miner (Mineral Park, 1882-1918). Two specialized collections are worth knowing: the University of Arizona's Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press, and the Densho Digital Archive's run of the Gila News-Courier from the Gila River wartime incarceration camp (1942-1945).

For city directories, which can place a household at a street address year by year, read our guide to using old city directories, then ask the Arizona State Library and the AHS library in Tucson what runs they hold for your town.

Territorial censuses and statewide indexes

Because Arizona was part of New Mexico Territory and then a separate territory for so long, the federal government took a series of special territorial censuses that have no equivalent in most states. The 1864 census names every household member; the 1866, 1867, 1869, 1874, and 1876 counts list heads of household only; and the 1882 census again names household members. All are indexed on Ancestry. Regular federal censuses survive for 1860 (within New Mexico Territory), 1870, 1880, and 1900 through 1950, but the 1890 schedules for Arizona are lost.

• Births and deaths: the free genealogy.az.gov images described above are effectively a statewide index to pre-1950s deaths and pre-1950 births.
• Voter registers, brand books, and prison records at the Arizona State Archives fill the gaps between censuses, especially for miners and ranch hands who moved often.
• Probate and wills are also at the State Archives for many counties, with later files remaining at the county Clerk of the Superior Court.

Researching a house or building in Arizona

The Arizona State Historic Preservation Office is a division of Arizona State Parks. It nominates properties to the National Register of Historic Places, maintains the parallel Arizona Register of Historic Places, runs the statewide survey of historic buildings and archaeological sites, and administers two incentives that matter to owners: the federal rehabilitation tax credit for income-producing buildings and the State Historic Property Tax reclassification, which lowers property tax on listed owner-occupied homes.

A practical sequence for an Arizona house:

• Pull the chain of title at the County Recorder, working backward from the current deed. Our article on tracing a property's deed history explains how to read the grantor and grantee indexes.
• Find the original patent on the BLM site to learn when the land first left federal ownership; the patent date is a hard earliest limit for any building.
• Check the State Archives map collection (about 32,000 maps) and county tax rolls for the first year the parcel was assessed with improvements. Our guide to finding when a house was built covers how to use tax jumps as a construction date.
• Ask SHPO whether the property appears in a survey or a National Register district; survey forms often include a construction date and a photograph.

For commercial buildings, hotels, and mining structures, see how to research an old building.

Tips for using Arizona historical societies

The Arizona Historical Society is a statewide organization with regional museums, but its research libraries are appointment-only; call 480-387-5355 or email the library before you drive to Tucson, Tempe, or Flagstaff, and ask which of the three sites holds the collection you need. County and town societies in Arizona tend to be small and volunteer-run, with limited weekday hours, so confirm hours by phone rather than relying on a website. The 6 organizations listed above each have their own page with address and contact details.

Additional Arizona History Resources

• Arizona State Archives (Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records) - State archives in Phoenix: county, territorial, court, probate, tax, and map records
• Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates - Free images of births from 1855 (75+ years old) and deaths from 1844 (50+ years old)
• Arizona Department of Health Services, Bureau of Vital Records - Certified birth and death certificates, statewide from 1909
• Arizona Memory Project - Digitized Arizona newspapers 1859-1989, photographs, maps, and documents
• Arizona Historical Society Library and Archives - Manuscripts, photographs, maps, and oral histories; Tucson, Tempe, and Flagstaff sites by appointment
• Arizona State Historic Preservation Office - National Register, Arizona Register, survey records, and historic property tax programs
• BLM General Land Office Records - Federal land patents and homestead entries searchable by name
• FamilySearch Wiki: Arizona Vital Records - Record start dates, county contacts, and online index links

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I see an Arizona death certificate from the 1920s or 1930s for free?

Use the state's Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates site at genealogy.az.gov. It posts scanned death certificates from 1844 up to 50 years ago and birth records from 1855 up to 75 years ago. Statewide registration only began in July 1909, so earlier deaths appear only if a county or town recorded them.

Where are Arizona marriage records kept?

With the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the license was issued, not with the state vital records office. An 1864 territorial law made marriages a county record, so county files begin well before statehood in 1912. Divorce decrees are held by the same clerk in the county where the decree was granted.

Did Arizona take state censuses?

Not as a state, but the federal government took territorial censuses in 1864, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1874, 1876, and 1882. The 1864 and 1882 counts name every household member; the others list heads of household. The 1890 federal census for Arizona is lost.

Where can I read old Arizona newspapers online?

The Arizona Memory Project, run by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, has more than 120 searchable titles covering 1859 to 1989 from all 15 counties. Chronicling America adds further Arizona titles such as the Graham Guardian and the Mohave County Miner.