Nevada Historical Societies

This directory lists 7 historical societies, museums, and archives in Nevada, including the Nevada State Museum in the old Carson City Mint and the Nevada State Railroad Museum. After the listings you will find a research guide built around the offices that hold Nevada's records: the State Library, Archives and Public Records, the Office of Vital Records, the County Recorder in each county, the two university special collections, and the newspaper pages Nevada contributed to Chronicling America.

Nevada was carved out of Utah Territory in 1861 and admitted as the 36th state on October 31, 1864, in the middle of the Civil War and the Comstock silver boom. That timing shapes the records: the 1860 federal census counted the area as part of Utah Territory, territorial censuses were taken in 1861 and 1862, and the state ran its own census in 1875. Nevada now has 16 counties plus the independent city of Carson City, but several early counties were abolished or absorbed, so a Comstock-era record may be filed under a county that no longer exists.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories for Nevada research

The Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records at 100 N. Stewart Street in Carson City combines the state library and the State Archives under one roof, open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Archives holds more than 20,000 cubic feet of territorial and state government records dating from 1851: governors' and legislative files, maps, photographs, and agency records. One point to understand before you visit: the State Archives does not hold county records, so births, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded locally must be sought from the County Clerk or County Recorder, though the Archives does provide access to a run of state death records for 1920-1954.

• Nevada Historical Society, 1650 N. Virginia Street, Reno. The research library holds manuscripts, more than 500,000 photographs, maps, Nevada newspapers, city directories, and specialized indexes including a Territorial Enterprise index for 1859-1891 and mining records indexed by county. It is open Wednesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment only; book through the society's website.
• Special Collections and University Archives, University of Nevada, Reno, third floor of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, 1664 N. Virginia Street. Documents the northwestern Great Basin with manuscripts, photographs, maps, and newspapers; drop-in hours Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays by appointment. See library.unr.edu.
• UNLV Special Collections and Archives, third floor of Lied Library, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. The place for southern Nevada: Las Vegas, Clark County, Hoover Dam, mining, and the gaming industry, with a large digitized archive described at library.unlv.edu.

Nevada birth, death, marriage, and divorce records

Nevada began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1911. Marriages and divorces were not registered at the state level until 1968, which is late even by western standards, so the counties remain the primary source for both. Some counties kept birth and death registers from about 1887.

• Births and deaths since 1911: the Office of Vital Records, Division of Public and Behavioral Health, 4150 Technology Way, Suite 104, Carson City. Certified birth certificates cost $25 in person and death certificates $22 to $25 depending on county; VitalChek online orders run $45. Access is restricted to the person named and immediate family, and you must state your relationship and reason. The office offers genealogical searches at $10 per name for a 30-minute appointment.
• Births and deaths before 1911: the County Recorder or county health office where the event happened.
• Marriages: the County Recorder in the county where the license was issued. Nevada's minimal waiting period made Reno and Las Vegas national marriage destinations, so a couple from anywhere in the country may appear in Washoe or Clark County records; the state office can run a marriage or divorce search by mail for $10.
• Divorces: probate courts before 1864, district courts after; files are with the District Court Clerk (the County Clerk) in the county of the decree. Reno's six-week residency divorces of the 1930s-1960s are in Washoe County.

Land, deed, and mining records in Nevada

Nevada is a public-land state. Title to private land starts with a federal patent from the General Land Office, whether a cash sale, a homestead, or a mineral patent, and the BLM General Land Office Records site lets you search patents by name and state and download the patent image free. The underlying homestead and cash-entry case files, which contain the settler's own statements, are at the National Archives. Roughly 80 percent of Nevada is still federal land, so for many rural parcels the GLO patent is the whole story.

After the patent, every deed, mortgage, and lease is recorded by the County Recorder in the county where the land lies, and the larger counties (Clark, Washoe) have put their recorded document indexes online. The County Recorder is also where mining location notices and claim records were filed, which is why the Recorder's office in a mining county like Storey, Esmeralda, or Nye may hold more mining paperwork than deeds. The Nevada Historical Society's county-by-county mining records index is the quickest way into those files. Remember that abolished counties (Roop, Ormsby, and others) passed their books to successor counties; the State Archives can tell you which. Our guide to tracing a deed chain applies once you are past the patent.

Nevada newspapers and city directories

The Nevada Digital Newspaper Project, led by UNLV University Libraries beginning in 2014 in partnership with the State Library and Archives and UNR, has digitized Nevada newspapers for the National Digital Newspaper Program in successive two-year grant cycles. The results are free and keyword-searchable in the Library of Congress Chronicling America database, which covers titles from 16 Nevada towns including Carson City, Virginia City, Goldfield, Tonopah, Elko, Ely, Eureka, and Las Vegas; UNLV maintains a guide to the Nevada titles and dates. The State Library also hosts its own small set of digitized historic titles alongside current databases for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reno Gazette Journal, and Nevada Appeal.

For papers not yet digitized, the Nevada Historical Society in Reno and UNR Special Collections hold extensive microfilm, and the Historical Society's Territorial Enterprise index (1859-1891) substitutes for full-text search on the Comstock's most important paper. Reno, Carson City, and Las Vegas city directories are at the Historical Society and the two university libraries. See our article on old city directories for how to read them.

Census, military, and statewide indexes

Nevada's census coverage is thin before 1870. The 1860 federal census enumerated the area as Utah Territory; territorial censuses survive for 1861 and 1862 and are on FamilySearch; the 1870 federal census is the first taken of Nevada as a state; and the 1875 state census, also on FamilySearch, is a valuable mid-decade snapshot of the Comstock boom. Mortality schedules exist for 1860, 1870, and 1880, and the 1890 veterans schedule survives.

• State death records 1920-1954 accessible through the State Archives, in addition to the county registers.
• Indian census rolls for Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe communities, early 1900s to 1940, on FamilySearch and Ancestry.
• Nevada Historical Society indexes to the Territorial Enterprise, mining records, and teacher records.
• Ask an Archivist at the State Archives (StateArchives@admin.nv.gov) for territorial-era and state agency records.

For burials, Nevada's mining camps often had short-lived cemeteries with no surviving sexton records; our guide to finding where someone is buried covers the alternatives.

Researching a house or building in Nevada

The Nevada State Historic Preservation Office is at 901 S. Stewart Street, Suite 3002, Carson City, within the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, with a second office in Las Vegas. It administers both the State Register of Historic Places and the National Register program for Nevada, so a property can be listed on either or both. The office also publishes the inventory of Nevada's state historical markers, with lists by number and by county and an interactive map; the markers themselves are maintained by the Nevada Division of State Parks.

For a Nevada building, the sequence is: County Recorder for the deed chain, County Assessor for construction-year estimates, GLO records for the original patent, and Sanborn fire insurance maps (available for Reno, Carson City, Virginia City, Las Vegas, and other towns through library subscriptions and UNR and UNLV Special Collections) for footprints and materials. Mining-town buildings frequently moved: a house in Goldfield may have stood in Tonopah first. Our articles on dating your house and researching an old building walk through each step.

Additional Nevada History Resources

• Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records - State library and archives, 100 N. Stewart Street, Carson City
• Nevada State Archives - Territorial and state government records from 1851; Ask an Archivist service
• Nevada Office of Vital Records - Birth and death certificates from 1911; genealogical search appointments
• Nevada State Historic Preservation Office - State and National Register programs, Carson City and Las Vegas
• Nevada Historical Markers - Lists of state markers by number and county with map
• Nevada Historical Society Research Library - Reno research library: manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, mining indexes, by appointment
• UNR Special Collections and University Archives - Northern Nevada and Great Basin collections, Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
• UNLV Special Collections and Archives - Las Vegas, southern Nevada, and gaming history, Lied Library
• Nevada titles in Chronicling America (UNLV guide) - Nevada Digital Newspaper Program title list and links
• BLM General Land Office Records - Federal land patents and survey plats for Nevada

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I get a Nevada marriage record from Reno or Las Vegas?

From the County Recorder in the county where the license was issued: Washoe County for Reno and Clark County for Las Vegas. Nevada did not register marriages statewide until 1968. The Office of Vital Records in Carson City will run a marriage or divorce search by mail for $10 but the certificate itself comes from the county.

Does the Nevada State Archives have birth and death records?

Statewide birth and death registration began in 1911 and certified copies come from the Office of Vital Records in Carson City, not the Archives. The State Archives does provide access to state death records for 1920-1954. Pre-1911 records, where they exist, are with the County Recorder.

How do I find who first owned a piece of land in Nevada?

Search the BLM General Land Office Records site by name or by township, range, and section. Nevada is a public-land state, so the first private owner received a federal patent, and the patent image is free to download. Later deeds are with the County Recorder.

Which Nevada newspapers are online for free?

The Nevada Digital Newspaper Project, led by UNLV since 2014, has added Nevada titles from 16 towns to Chronicling America, the free Library of Congress database. UNLV's library guide lists the titles and date ranges. The Nevada Historical Society in Reno holds microfilm and an index to the Territorial Enterprise for 1859-1891.