Clay
County Historical Society Archives
PO Box 501
202 1st Ave N
Moorhead MN 56560
Phone: 218 299-5520
Fax: 218 299-5525
email: mark.peihl@ci.moorhead.mn.us
Hours: M-F 10am to 5pm,
Tues 10am to 9pm
CCHS Archives houses tens of thousands of photos, books,
manuscripts, newspapers and other records relating to Clay County's past. All
are available for use by the general public at the Archives. There is no charge
for researching in the Archives. Most materials can be photocopied at 20 cents
per letter size page, 40 cents per 11 x 17 copy. CCHS members receive a 50%
discount on photocopy charges.
Research Fees:
Phone, mail and email requests are welcomed. Research fees are
$20.00 per hour with a half hour minimum. Advance payment required. CCHS members
receive a 50% discount. (For membership information,
click here.) The fee includes up to 5 photocopies and postage. Additional
photocopies will be charged at the above rate. Please be as specific as possible
in your request.
Transcriptions of death records filed in Clay County from
1872-1932 are available for $8.00 per record! (More recent records will be
available soon.) The Clay County Recorder's Office has an online
Index to Clay
County Deaths, 1872-1982. Check the online index for the date of death, book and
page where the death is recorded then contact CCHS to order a transcription.
NEW!A History of Clay and
Norman Counties - ONLINE!. We've scanned and turned
into PDF files this collection of biographical sketches of over 650 residents of
Clay and Norman Counties. The sketches include lots of good genealogical
information and over 80 photographs, all available for downloading and printing.
Click here for the
files and more information!
Holdings
The following is a partial listing of research
materials available. For further information, contact the Archives at the
addresses above.
NEWSPAPERS:
We hold newspapers published in the following Clay County cities for the years
indicated:
Barnesville: 1890-present
Glyndon: 1872-1873, 1879-1929
Hawley: 1899-1912, 1917-present
Hitterdal: 1920-1926
Moorhead: 1872-1969
Ulen: 1898, 1916-present
TAX RECORDS
Personal and Real Property Tax Assessment Rolls and Tax Lists. We have rolls
and/or lists for most townships for the 1870s, 1905,
1915, 1925, 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965 and 1975. These lists all Personal and/or
Real Property Taxpayers in the county for each year, the school district and
township, village or city he or she lived in and the amount of tax paid. We
have the 1905 Personal
Property Tax List online!
CENSUS RECORDS
US census records for Clay County for 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910,1920. We also hold
copies of the 1890 Special Census of Civil War Veterans and Widows.
Minnesota state census records for Clay County for 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905.
MARRIAGE RECORDS
We hold indexes to marriages recorded in Clay County between 1872
and 1982. The marriages are indexed by the groom's name and the bride's. For
copies of the records themselves, contact the Clay
County Recorder.
DEATH RECORDS Transcriptions of death records
filed in Clay County from 1872-1932 are available for $8.00 per record.
(More recent records will be available soon.) The Clay County Recorder's
Office has an online index to Clay County deaths. Check the online index for
the date of death, book and page where the death is recorded then contact
CCHS to order a transcription.
NATURALIZATION RECORDS Citizenship papers filed in Clay County District Court, 1872-1954, indexed.
WORLD WAR 1 RECORDS Clay County Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Clay County Alien Registration Forms, 1918
SANBORN FIRE INSURANCE MAPS Highly detailed street maps showing locations of homes and businesses of the
following Clay County cities for the years indicated: Barnesville: 1894, 1899, 1907, 1914, 1929 Glyndon: 1932 Hawley: 1924, 1933 Moorhead: 1884, 1890, 1896, 1899, 1906, 1914, 1922, 1929, 1956
FARGO-MOORHEAD CITY DIRECTORIES Fargo: 1881-present Moorhead: 1884-present We have the Moorhead sections of the 1885, 1891 and
1915
directories available online!
PHOTOGRAPHS We have tens of thousands of photos in our collections. Most are indexed by names
of the individuals, events or places depicted. Copies of nearly all can be
provided. Contact the Archives for details. Our best collection is the
Flaten/Wange
Glass Plate Negative Collection, some 12,500 negatives taken by two Clay County
photographers. O. E. Flaten worked in Moorhead between 1879 and 1929. We
have about 800 images he took of street scenes, businesses and events in
Moorhead. S. P. Wange worked in Hawley from 1893 to about 1939. About 1500
of his images are scenes in and around Hawley. Most of the remaining 10,000
plus pictures are studio portraits of local residents. Most are identified
and can be a gold mine for genealogists with relatives from eastern Clay
County. Watch this space for a coming online index to the collection!
The views and opinions expressed in this web
site are strictly those of the page authors. The contents of this web site have
not been reviewed or approved by Clay County.
Clay
County Historical Society Archives
