Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Genealogy

United States

Alaska

Northwest Arctic Borough

Guide to Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Alaska Online Genealogy Records

Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
Map
Location in the state of Alaska, United States Genealogy
Location of Alaska in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	June 2, 1986
County Seat	Kotzebue
Courthouse
Address	Northwest Artic Borough P O Box 1110  Kotzebue, Ak 99752-1110 Phone 907-442-2500 http://www.nwabor.org/

Description

The Borough has Kotzebue as its seat and the Borough was created as an June 2, 1986. The Borough is located in the northwestern part of the state.

Historical Facts

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this borough.

Places/Localities

Neighboring Boroughs

• North Slope

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this borough:

Cities
Ambler Buckland Deering Kiana	Kivalina Kobuk Kotzebue Noorvik	Selawik Shungnak
Unincorporated communities
Candle
Census-designated places
Noatak	Red Dog Mine
Ghost towns
Kiwalik

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Northwest Arctic, Alaska online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com AKGenWeb AKGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Interment.net Billion Graves
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)	WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the Borough	Findagrave.com Billion Graves AK Archives Alaska Cemetery Records FamilySearch Places
See Alaska Cemeteries for more information

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1960	3,560	—
1970	4,434	24.6%
1980	4,831	9.0%
1990	6,113	26.5%
2000	7,208	17.9%
2010	7,523	4.4%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

Church records vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden name; and death date.

For general information about Alaska denominations, see the Alaska Church Records wiki page.

The Family History Library also has copies of many Alaskan church records. To find a list in the FamilySearch Catalog, do a Place Search for Alaska, the borough, or the town.

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

History

Local History

Local histories are available for Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Genealogy. Borough histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Alaska Local Histories.

Land and Property

The first general land office was established at Sitka, Alaska in 1885. Records of subsequent transactions, including deeds and mortgages, are filed at the office of the district recorder in each judicial district. The Family History Library has not acquired copies of Alaskan land records.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military

• 1898-1934 - Alaska, State Archives (Juneau), Military Service Discharge Records, 1898-1934 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
• 1940-1945 - Alaska, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1884-1991 - Alaska Naturalization Records, 1884-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
• 1900-1972 - Alaska, State Archives (Juneau), Naturalization Records, 1900-1972 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Newspapers

Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Genealogy newspapers may contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

To access newspapers, contact public libraries, college or university libraries, or the Library of Congress.

For more Alaska newspaper information, see the Newspaper Guides on the wiki page Alaska Newspapers.

Probate

Probate records of Alaska were kept by the district courts prior to statehood. The superior court now has jurisdiction over probate matters. They are available at the archives and offices mentioned in Alaska Court Records. The Family History Library does not have copies of probate records from Alaska.

An index with about 17,000 probate cases from the district court system from 1884 to 1960 is available online. It is arranged alphabetically. See Alaska Probate Records Index.

Taxation

Alaska tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses or to supplement the years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years in the tax records. The Family History Library has not filmed Alaska tax records.

Real and personal property tax records are kept at the borough's Assessors office.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Department of Health and Social Services, Bureau of Vital Statistics. This office has birth, death and marriage records since 1890's, though, many before 1930 were not registered with the Bureau. It also has divorce records since 1950. For more information, including how to find earlier records, check Alaska Vital Records.

• 1816-1959 Alaska, Vital Records, 1816-1959 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Alaska GenWeb Project - Northwest Arctic Borough.
• Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)