| Clay County Historical
Society Archives
This page updated December 18, 2001 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. Phone, mail and email requests are welcomed. Please be as specific as possible when making your request. Reference requests will be filled out as staff time allows. Most materials can be photocopied at 20 cents per letter-sized page, 40 cents per 11 x 17. The following is a partial listing of materials
available.
For further information, contact the Archives directly: Clay County Historical Society
The Archives hold newspapers published in the following Clay County cities for the years indicated. Barnesville: 1890-present
US Federal Census records for Clay County for 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920. They will be adding the Clay County records for the US Census of 1930 when those films are released in April 2002. US Special Census of Civil War Veterans and Widows, 1890. Minnesota State Census records for Clay County for the years 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905. They hold indexes to the deaths and marriages recorded in Clay County between 1875 and 1985. The death index includes the name of the deceased, date of death and book, page and line number on which the death is recorded in the Clay County Recorder's Office. The marriages are indexed by name of both the bride and groom and includes the date of marriage and the book and page number where the marriage is recorded in the Recorder's Office. For further information or copies of the records themselves, contact the Clay County Recorder's Office. Citizenship papers filed in Clay County District Court, 1872-1954, indexed Clay County Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. All Clay County men not in the military between the ages of 18 and 45 had to register for the draft. Clay County Alien Registration Forms. The Minnesota Public Safety Commission required all non-German and non-Austrian alien residents to register with the state government. Germans and Austrians were registered by the US government earlier. Highly detailed street maps showing the location and size of homes and businesses of the folowing Clay County cities for the years indicated. Barnesville: 1894, 1899, 1907, 1914, 1929
They also hold maps for most other Clay County villages ranging between the 1920s and 1960s.
Fargo: 1881-1995
Moorhead sections of the 1891
and 1915
directories available online at the CCHS
Website! Plat books showing property ownership in rural Clay County for the following years: 1898, 1901, 1909, 1916, 1920, 1925, 1933, 1939, 1946, 1951, 1957, 1961, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1976-1978, 1980, 1982-1985, 1990, 1991, 1993-1997, 2000. Many of these also include listings of all rural residents whether land owners or not. The CCHS site now has the 1933
rural resident list online! The Archives have tens of thousands of photos in their collection. Most are indexed by names of the individuals, events or places depicted. Copies of nearly all can be provided. Contact the Archives for details. Their 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. They 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 of 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. Back to the Clay County Resources Back to the Clay County Main Page Clay County MNGenWeb hosted by Cara
Mumford
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