Oregon’s first newspaper, the Oregon Spectator, appeared in 1846, the first American newspaper on the Pacific coast. The University of Oregon’s free Historic Oregon Newspapers site is the best place to start.
Oregon obituaries in historic newspapers
The Oregon Spectator began in Oregon City in 1846, at the end of the Oregon Trail. Its notices recorded deaths among overland emigrants and settlers in the Willamette Valley, and later papers such as the Oregonian, founded in Portland in 1850, became the region’s main record.
Gold rushes in southern and eastern Oregon, the timber industry and the salmon canneries on the Columbia all brought new towns and papers. Portland had German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Japanese papers, and small-town weeklies across the state reported pioneer deaths in detail, often noting the year the deceased crossed the plains.
Historic Oregon Newspapers, from the University of Oregon Libraries, hosts digitized Oregon papers from the 1840s onward, including titles contributed to Chronicling America. The Oregon State Archives in Salem has state death records.
Where to find Oregon obituaries
Digitized Oregon newspapers
- Historic Oregon Newspapers — Free digitized Oregon newspapers from the University of Oregon.
Archives and libraries
- Oregon State Archives — State death records and genealogy guidance in Salem.
- Oregon Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Oregon newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Oregon and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Oregon
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.