County of Sonoma Resources

Vital, Newspaper and Land Records

The Sonoma County Clerk’s Office houses vital records, and copies of certificates are available for a charge.  Records available for birth since 1855, for marriage since 1846 and for death since 1873.

Indices to newspaper, vital and other records are available at SCGS Publications and Index of Records.

Sonoma County was one of the original counties formed in 1850. The county has changed over time, and there is more information at Sonoma County boundary changes.

Wills and Probate Records

Sonoma County wills and probate records have been recorded since 1847, and can be obtained from the Archived Records Division of the Sonoma County Superior Court at the Sonoma County Superior Court.

See the name only index to the SCGS publication, Probate Records, Sonoma County, California - Index for 1847 to 1959, available free to the public. Members of SCGS can access the full index in the Members Only tab of this website.

Sonoma County Library

The recently-remodeled history and genealogy portion of the Library has extensive resources for Sonoma County, and includes many national and international holdings.  They also have access from their computers to library versions of on-line resources such as Ancestry.  Useful links include:

       Web page on the library website: https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library

       Collections page: https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library/collections

      Digital collections: https://digital.sonomalibrary.org/

      Local History Index: INDEX

   o   Find names of local people and places, showing book title and page number - then find the book online at FamilySearch,                    HathiTrust, Internet Archive

   Library’s catalog: https://find.sonomalibrary.org/client/en_US/default/?dt=list

   o   You can use the drop-down menu on the left side to narrow to “Local History Annex” which will limit results to the Annex.


Sonoma State University

SSU has several useful resources in the Research section of their library website. Notable for genealogy are the North Bay History and Maps areas.  Link: https://library.sonoma.edu/research/guides/regional

Local Museums

Sonoma County Museum has an extensive chronology of county history: https://museumsc.org/collection/

The Sonoma Valley Historical Society hosts the Depot Park Museum and The Marcy House Archives and Research Center. Link: http://depotparkmuseum.org/

More specific and localized collections are summarized at the Historical Records Commission.                                   Link: https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Historical-Records-Commission/Museums/



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