Alaska Public Records

First Name Last Name

For births, marriage and death records after 1913, write:

Department of Health and Social Services
Bureau of Vital Statistics
P.O. Box 110675
Juneau, AK 99811-0675
Tel: 907-465-3392
Fax: 907-465-2925
http://health.hss.state.ak.us/htmlstuf/dph/vitals/vitalst.htm

For birth, marriage and death records prior to 1913, write the office above or consult the original congregation an ancestor may have been affiliated with. These earlier records will usually be ecclesiastical in nature.

Alaska Land Records
Alaska is a federal-land state. Lands were generally bought from the government or from other individuals. Records for the government land offices of Juneau, Nome, and Sitka include cash entries, homestead final certificates, canceled homestead entries, and canceled Indian allotments. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has these records as well as an index to the cash entry files for Alaska. Patents, tract books, and township plats are on file at the Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage Federal Office Building, 701 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99513. The National Archives/Alaska Region also holds copies of the tract books, township plats, and other records of the GLO (forerunner to the BLM).

The Alaska State Archives has descriptions and maps of mining claims. For land transferred between individuals, records are filed at the office of the district recorder in each judicial district; similar to a county recorder in other states.

Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1997.

Woerner, R.K. The Alaska Handbook. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1986.

Alaska Court Records
Court records can be a complex source for any state. Their records entail probate records (which include wills), guardianship, naturalization, and a wide variety of other sources, ranging from criminal trials to simple road orders. All contain information about individuals within the area. It should be remembered that there are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United States, all of which should be considered for research under various circumstances. Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court, District Court, Superior Court, Supreme Court, and other titles are among those encountered. To study more about court records in general, see: "Research in Court Records" by Arlene H. Eakle, found in Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).

Alaska Military Records
Alaska's late induction into the United States circumvented most of the early military conflicts. However, United States' servicemen have been in Alaska since 1867. At that time Alaska was placed under the jurisdiction of the War Department. Most of the resident soldiers were from the lower forty-eight states. Few informative records exist, though the National Archives/Alaska Region has U.S. Military Post returns for Ft. Davis, Dyea, Ft. Egbert, Ft. Gibbon, Ft. Kodiak, Ft. Liscum, Ft. St. Michael, Sitka, Skagway, Ft. Tongass, Valdez, Ft. Wm. H. Seward, Ft. Wrangall, Circle City, Council City, Dutch Harbor, New Archangel, Camp Rampart, St. Paul Island, and Greadwell. Post returns generally show the units that were stationed at a particular post, officers present and absent, record of events, and official communications.

For additional information, consult:

Neagles, James C. U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1994.

Additional Sources
Frederick, Robert A. "Caches of Alaskana: Library and Archival Sources of Alaskan History." Alaska Review 2. Fall and Winter 1966-67. (This excellent reference provides a bibliography of Alaskan newspapers, manuscript collections, maps, and photograph collections not only in Alaska libraries and archives, but nationwide.)

Lada-Mocarski, Valerian. Bibliography of Books on Alaska Published Before 1868. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1969. (Twenty-five percent of the works listed in this bibliography are in Russian. Topics listed include the settlement of Alaska, religious books, geographical atlases, and single maps.)

Ulibarri, George S. Documenting Alaskan History: Guide to Federal Archives Relating to Alaska. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1982.

Cost of copy: $10.00

Address:
Department of Health and Social Services
Bureau of Vital Statistics
P.O. Box 110675
Juneau, AK 99811-0675

Remarks: State office has had records since January 1913. Money order should be made payable to Bureau of Vital Statistics. Personal checks are not accepted. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (907) 465-3391. This will be a recorded message.

Search All Alaska Records
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Event: Marriage

Cost of copy: $10.00

Address:
Department of Health and Social Services
Bureau of Vital Statistics
P.O. Box 110675
Juneau, AK 99811-0675

Remarks: State office has had records since 1913.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Event: Divorce (State)

Cost of copy: $10.00

Address:
Department of Health and Social Services
Bureau of Vital Statistics
P.O. Box 110675
Juneau, AK 99811-0675

Remarks: State office has had records since 1950.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Event: Divorce (district)

Cost of copy: Varies

Address: See remarks

Remarks: Clerk of Superior Court in judicial district where divorce was granted. Juneau and Ketchikan (First District), Nome (Second District), Anchorage (Third District), and Fairbanks (Fourth District).