St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds Office

The staff at the St. Louis (City) Recorder of Deeds office met with StLGS volunteers last week to reaffirm their willingness to assist genealogists with St. Louis records. Theirs is a fee-based service, but those fees are used to further records preservation and provide staff to assist the public.

What you will find in the Recorder of Deeds Office:

• Marriage Records from 1766 to 1931: These consist of applications and licenses from 1881 to 1931, a register from 1877 to 1880, registers from 1808 to 1876 (the year the city split from the county), and some marriage contracts and prenuptial agreements from the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. 
• There is a $3.00 fee for each uncertified copy of application, license, or register entry and a $12.00 fee for certified copies.
• An additional fee for searching may be levied if exact information is not provided.
• Land Deeds: St. Louis County from 1766 to 1876 (pre-split); St. Louis City, 1877 through 1920
• $3.00 fee for first page, uncertified copy; $5.00 certified; $2.00 for each additional page of the same record.
• Search fees apply, if necessary.

Additional records include:

• Deeds of Adoption, 1880 through 1916 ($5.00 uncertified copy; $7.00 certified)
• Incorporation Records ($3.00 uncertified first page; $5.00 certified; $2.00 each additional page of same record)
• House of Refuge Orphanage from 1854 through 1909 ($5.00 per copy of index or minute book page)
• Nurse Registrations, 1910 through 1937 ($3.00 per copy of license or index page)
• Trademarks, 1865 through 1930 ($5.00 per black and white copy)

The Recorder of Deeds office is located in City Hall at 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. 63103. The Land Records are in Room 126 and the Archives Department is in Room 129. The office is open from Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. (Archives Dept.) and 5:00 p.m. (Land Records). More information and an online search capability for land records and a limited number of marriage records at www.stlouiscityrecorder.org.