RAVALLI COUNTY NEWSPAPERS:

     1. RAVALLI REPUBLIC (formerly the Ravalli Republican)
            published 5 days per week (M-F)
            1894 to present

     2. THE WESTERN NEWS
            weekly paper (Thursday)
            1890 - 1977
   
    3. NORTH WEST TRIBUNE
            weekly paper
            1893 - 1979

    4. BITTER ROOT STAR
            formerly the Northwest tribune

    5. BITTERROOT BUGLE
            1898 - 1902

    6. STEVENSVILLE REGISTER
            1902 - 1918

    7. RAVALLI COUNTY DEMOCRAT
            1900 - 1901


RAVALLI COUNTY MUSEUM
205 Bedford, Hamilton, Montana 59840
Hours: 10 AM - 4 PM  Thursday through Monday
            1 - 4 PM Sunday
            Closed Tuesday & Wednesday

The Ravalli County Museum, the former Ravalli County Courthouse, built by A.J Gibson in 1900, served as the Ravalli County Courthouse until 1979 when it was saved from the wreckers ball by a vote of the people. It now houses what is considered by many to be the finest little museum in the northwest. Permanent collections include a native American collection, Ricketts Museum commemorating the development of the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, an antique kitchen, miner/trapper room, a veteran's display, Ernst Peterson photo exhibits, extensive archives, including local newspapers. Victorian rooms and Lewis and Clark room. Rotating exhibits in the former courtroom and weekly Sunday series program at 2:00pm is of historic or cultural significance.   

Phone: (406) 363-3338
e-mail: rcmuseum@qwestoffice.net

The museum has the following resources:

    ORIGINAL PLATS & MAPS FOR RAVALLI COUNTY

    PHOTO FILES OF OLD RESIDENCES, BUILDINGS, PEOPLE IN RAVALLI COUNTY

    MILES ROMNEY RESEARCH LIBRARY (history books, old Montana magazines, Montana Journals, Montana Historic Magazines, etc)

    NEWSPAPER FILES: Obituaries, biographies, and historical events are indexed from county newspapers  

    RAVALLI COUNTY CEMETERY RECORDS
    Inscriptions from all of the cemeteries in Ravalli County are on file at the Museum and the Bitterroot Public Library.
    Also see the Bitter Root Genealogy Society

Contact Museum for cost of lookups. Museum

VITAL STATISTICS
Ravalli County marriages, births, divorces and deaths that occurred before 1893, are recorded in Missoula County. After 1893 when Ravalli County was formed from Missoula County,  events that occurred in Ravalli County were recorded at the Ravalli County Clerk and Recorder's office. But many people from Ravalli County have been married, born, divorced or died and are buried in Missoula. Those records would be on file in Missoula County. By law, all births and deaths that occurred in were to be recorded, but many were not, even into the 1940's.

BIRTH, DEATH & ADOPTION records are on file at the Montana State Department of Public Health and Human Services in Helena, MT. There are a few records for births that occurred before 1907, and some records are on file for births that occurred between1907 and 1920. Complete records are on file for births starting in 1920. Deaths are recorded from 1926 to present. Complete copies of a Death Certificate within 2 (two) years of the date of death can only be issed to the following: Parent, Spouse, Child (proof or relationship or legal need required), Legal Guardian (proof required) or Authorized Representative (proof required).
   Cost: $10.00 for the first  5 years to be searched, then $1.00 per year over the first 5 years. For more information and application forms for birth and death records, go to:  Montana State Department of Health

Montana Vital Statistics
111 N Sanders Room 209
PO Box 4210
Helena, MT 59604-4210
Phone: 406-444-2685

ADOPTION RECORDS: Access requires a Certified Court Order to open.

RAVALLI COUNTY BIRTH & DEATH RECORDS are also available from:
Ravalli County Clerk & Recorder's Office
 215 S. 4th Street, Suite C
Court House Box 5002
Hamilton, MT 59840
Phone: (406) 375-6212

DIVORCE RECORDS can be found at the District Clerk of Court in the county where the divorce occurred.
District Clerk of Court
205 Bedford
Court House Box
Hamilton, MT 59840
(406) 363-6214

MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES are only housed in the county in which the marriage license was purchased. The Vital Statistics office can search records from 1943 to present to tell you what county to contact to access these records. Many people from Ravalli County applied for a marriage licence and were married in Missoula County. Those records are on file at the Clerk of Court office in the Missoula County court house. People also went to Salmon, Idaho to be married, Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, and Spokane, Washington to be married.