The following article was written by my good friend, Bill Dollarhide:
Dollarhide’s Rule No. 26: When in a courthouse miles from home, you will always find the breakthrough court record at 4:55 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
This county list was derived from Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987). The Map Guide book shows the evolution of county boundaries at the time of each federal census. It was prepared to allow a better understanding of the genealogy of the historic county jurisdictions; with the goal of leading a researcher to the modern county courthouse where records for an ancestor may be stored today. All county boundaries and name changes, 1790-1920, can be seen graphically on the maps, and all county names (modern, obsolete, or extinct counties) are included in the book’s county index with a reference to a map zone for a location. Exceptions are the few counties created and abolished between two federal census years – those never appearing on any federal census.
The modern counties are complete through 1987, the year the Map Guide book was first published. But, there have been no new counties created by any state since 1983. This list is to identify the counties created after 1 June 1920 through the last county in 1983. Since the period of map coverage for the Map Guide book ends with 1920, the new list below includes the names of the counties created after and not included in the 1920 federal census; plus any abolished counties since 1920. Thus, the list can be used to determine the counties appearing (or not appearing) in the 1930, 1940, or later federal censuses.
The Map Guide has no contemporary maps for the 1930 or later census years, but since all of the 1790-1920 maps show the underlying modern boundaries for all U.S. counties, any county created since 1920 is easy to find on the maps. Thus, this list will bring the Map Guide up-to-date to the 1990 federal census, which, according to current policies, should be made public in the year 2062.
The new list below includes changes to Virginia’s counties and independent cities since 1920. But, other county mergers, city/county consolidations, and “Unified Governments” are not identified. This trend began in 1963 when the City of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee merged into one government, the first major city in the U.S. to form a “Metropolitan Government.” Since then, about twenty city/county consolidations, mergers, or joint government operations have taken place. There are at least that many city/county consolidations under proposal and awaiting a vote of the local population. There are also about a dozen county mergers since 1990, where two or more counties have joined together into a single government. Most of these jurisdiction changes have taken place since 1990, so the general cut-off date for the “new counties, abolished counties” list below is for La Paz County, Arizona, created in 1983. However, We’ve also added Broomfield County, Colorado, created in 2001.
The following list shows just the states with new counties, abolished counties, or significant boundary changes since the census day of 1 June 1920:
ARIZONA – one (1) new county:
- La Paz, created from Yuma in 1983 (the last new county created in the U.S.).
COLORADO – one (1) new county
- The municipality of Broomfield was incorporated in 1961 in the southeastern corner of Boulder County. Over the next three decades, the city grew through annexations, many of which crossed the county line into three adjacent counties: Adams, Jefferson and Weld. Broomfield reasoned that it could provide services more responsively under its own county government, and sought an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution to create a new county. The amendment was passed in 1998, after which a three-year transition period followed. On November 15, 2001, Broomfield County became the 64th, newest and smallest county of Colorado. For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomfield,_Colorado Thanks to Lizb for directing us to this information.
FLORIDA – thirteen (13) new counties:
- Charlotte, created from DeSoto in 1921.
- Dixie, created from Lafayette in 1921.
- Glades, created from DeSoto in 1921.
- Hardee, created from DeSoto in 1921.
- Highlands, created from DeSoto in 1921.
- Sarasota, created from Manatee in 1921.
- Union, created from Bradford in 1921.
- Collier, created from Lee and Monroe in 1923
- Hendry, created from Lee in 1923.
- Gilchrist, created from Alachua in 1925.
- Gulf, created from Calhoun in 1925.
- Indian River, created from St. Lucie in 1925.
- Martin, created from Palm Beach and St. Lucie in 1925.
GEORGIA – six (6) new counties; two (2) abolished counties:
- Brantley, created from Charlton, Pierce, and Wayne in Nov 1920.
- Lamar, created from Monroe and Pike in Nov 1920.
- Lanier, created from Berrien, Lowndes, and Clinch, effective Nov 1920.
- Long, created from Liberty in Nov 1920.
- Seminole, created from Decatur and Early in Nov 1920.
- Peach, created from Houston and Macon in 1924.
- Campbell and Milton counties were abolished in 1932, their areas both annexed to Fulton.
MONTANA – five (5) new counties after 1 Jun 1920:
- Daniels, created from Valley and Sheridan in 1920.
- Golden Valley, created from Musselshell in 1920.
- Judith Basin, created from Fergus and Cascade in 1920.
- Lake, created from Flathead and Missoula in 1923.
- Petroleum, created from Fergus and Garfield in 1924.
NEVADA – one (1) significant county boundary change:
- Washoe. The indefinite 1861 Washoe eastern boundary was finally defined by range/township in 1924, impacting the adjoining counties of Humboldt and Pershing.
NEW MEXICO – four (4) new counties:
- Catron, created from Socorro in 1921.
- Harding, created from Mora and Union in 1921.
- Los Alamos, created from Sandoval and Santa Fe in 1949.
- Cibola, created from Valencia in 1981.
SOUTH DAKOTA – two (2) abolished counties:
- Armstrong was enumerated with Dewey, 1920-1950, but not officially annexed to Dewey until 1952.
- Washington was abolished and the area annexed to Shannon in 1943.
TEXAS – one (1) significant county boundary change:
- Willacy migrated south one county in 1921. The area of 1920 Willacy is identical today to Kenedy, except for a 1.4 mile strip below the southern boundary of Kenedy.
VIRGINIA – new independent cities and abolished counties:
- Independent cities have existed in Virginia since Williamsburg was chartered in 1722. In 1987, forty-one independent cities were outside county boundaries and jurisdictions. There have been three that are now defunct: 1) Manchester was incorporated in 1874 and absorbed into Richmond in 1910. 2) South Norfolk was incorporated in 1921 and merged with Norfolk County in 1962 to form the city of Chesapeake. 3) Warwick County became the City of Warwick in 1952 and then absorbed into the city of Newport News in 1957. These changes abolished the counties of Norfolk and Warwick. Also extinct are Elizabeth City County, which merged with the city of Hampton in 1952, and Princess Anne County, which was consolidated with the city of Virginia Beach in 1962.
City / County Consolidations & Mergers
Genealogists who expect to be around in 2082 to review the 2010 census in person will find many county changes impacting the place of residence of their ancestors. An excellent review of the many city/county changes can be found at the Wikipedia site, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_city-county. This site has a list of city/county consolidations, mergers and county/county mergers with detailed information about each.
Dollarhide’s Rule No. 27: Research in one county that leads you to information in another county will only be revealed on the last day of your vacation.
The Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Census may be purchased by clicking here.
The list for extinct counties in Virginia contains two omissions:
1)Alexandria County became extinct by virtue of being renamed Arlington in 1920.
2)Nansemond County became extinct by virtue of incorporating as a city in 1972 then merging with the city of Suffolk in 1974.
One can never emphasize too much that cities in Virginia are indendent of counties, but that merely means one must look in both the city and county (when both still exist–when a city/county is now extinct, it extant recors will be found in the current city), not that one must look only in the city or only in the county.
I have seen multiple instances in my career as a professional genealogist where a records that should have been filed in the city of Richmond was instead recorded in Henrico County or vice versa, now doubt because until 1974, the two courthouses (now about 10 miles apart) where just city blocks apart. I cannot say if there is as much need to look at both Williamsburg City and James City County or Winchester city and Frederick County, but the former are located in different wings of the SAME BUILDING and the latter are across the street (and within the city limits of Winchester) from each other.
Additional, claiming that taxes and fees to which Henrico was entitled were being paid to the city of Richmond, the county government got the U.S. Post Office Department to agree to changing the “post office” for zip codes physically in Henrico County but with the name of “Richmond” to “Henrico” in 2008 and Chesterfield County got approval in 2011 for a similar change of zip codes in the county that previously used “Richmond” as the post office name.
Mr. Pollock, your comments were most appreciated. I have asked Leland to modify the article text to add your VA item re Nansemond County. Turns out, the Arlington nee Alexandria Co renaming took place in March 1920 (see note on p.358, Map Guide), and the list was for counties created or abolished after 1 June 1920). Your excellent information about the location of records for various city/county courthouses is valuable, and could only come from someone who had visited each of those locations in person – thank you. Hopefully, your comment will be reviewed by all readers with an avid Virginia interest. -bill$hide
I was living in Santa Clara county, CA, when portions of its boundary with Santa Cruz were adjusted due to a major highway improvement linking the 2 counties. New satellite imagery was used to reconcile stated boundaries dating back to Spanish land records of Alta California. Unfortunately, the county records were not required to furnish reciprocal land titles to each other.
Decades later in Oregon, I was working in mortgage processing & the title companies coulnd’t track the title chain back to the beginning. So I explained about the land swap & suggested that they also look in the adjacent county. Bingo! There it was & the loan went through.
Yet another way in which the hobby of Genealogy pays off!