Ramsey County Obituary Records

Ramsey County obituary records and death certificates are maintained by the county's vital records office in St. Paul and by the Minnesota Department of Health. Records in this county go back to around 1870, making Ramsey one of Minnesota's oldest local vital records archives. As the home of Minnesota's state capital and the city of Saint Paul, Ramsey County has a large and well-documented death record history. This page covers the main offices and online tools for searching those records.

Ramsey County Vital Records - Death Certificates

The Ramsey County vital records office handles death certificates and other vital records for the county. The office is located at 90 Plato Blvd. West in St. Paul, in the Plato Building. Office hours run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, with extended hours until 7 p.m. on Thursdays. You can visit in person, call, or check the county's website for instructions on mail-in requests.

Ramsey County has maintained its own local death records going back to approximately 1870, which predates the state registration system by nearly four decades. This is notable because it means Ramsey County holds a substantial local archive of death records that exist separately from the MDH state collection. For deaths from 1997 to the present, any Minnesota county office can access MDH records. For deaths from 1870 to the present specifically in Ramsey County, the county office is the most complete local source.

Certified death certificates cost $13 for the first copy. Additional copies ordered at the same time are $13 each for certified copies or $6 for non-certified additional copies, as set by Minnesota Statutes section 144.225. Non-certified copies are public records in Minnesota and do not require you to show a family relationship to obtain them.

The Ramsey County death records page at ramseycountymn.gov/residents/licenses-permits-records/death-records has full instructions for requesting certificates and details on what forms of identification you may need to present.

The Ramsey County death records page covers the full process for requesting a certified copy, including in-person, mail, and any online options the county offers.

The general records and licenses page at ramseycountymn.gov/residents/licenses-permits-records lists all the vital records types the county handles, including births, deaths, and marriages.

The county's licenses and records section is the main hub for all vital records in Ramsey County, including death certificates, marriage records, and birth certificates.

Search Ramsey County Death and Obituary Records

The Minnesota Department of Health Death Search Index is the fastest online tool for checking if a death record is in the state system. The index covers deaths from 1997 to the present. Visit health.state.mn.us death search and enter the name. The tool returns basic results including county and year. If a match comes up, you can order a certified copy from MDH or from the Ramsey County vital records office. The search is free.

For deaths before 1997, you have several strong options. The Minnesota Historical Society holds death certificates from 1904 through 2001, and Ramsey County is well represented in that collection given its size and long history. The MNHS people search at mnhs.org/search/people covers the full archive by name. MNHS records are non-certified copies, open to any researcher. For deaths from 1870 to 1903, the Ramsey County vital records office is the primary source, along with the Ramsey County Historical Society and the St. Paul Public Library's vital records collection.

Ramsey County's urban and metro character means that death records here tend to be more complete and better indexed than in smaller rural counties. The county has had formal registration systems in place for a long time, and the population density means that most deaths were captured in official records going back to the county's early years.

St. Paul Public Library - Vital Records

The St. Paul Public Library maintains a vital records resource page at sppl.org/vital-records. The library system holds historical materials related to Ramsey County deaths and genealogy research, including newspaper archives and local reference collections. The library is a useful supplement to the county vital records office, especially for researchers looking for obituary text from historical St. Paul newspapers. Library staff can assist with research visits and may be able to point you to specific newspaper issues or indexes that cover the death you are looking for.

St. Paul newspapers going back into the 1800s published obituaries for residents of Ramsey County. These notices often provide details that official certificates do not capture, including survivor lists, church affiliation, occupation, and community background. The MNHS Newspaper Hub at mnhs.org/newspapers/hub has digitized a wide range of Minnesota papers. St. Paul and Twin Cities papers are well represented in that collection, and a name search may return full obituary text from decades past.

Ramsey County Historical Society

The Ramsey County Historical Society at ramseycountyhistory.org holds a local archive of county records, obituary files, photographs, and historical documents. The society preserves material from across the county's long history and can assist researchers who are looking for older obituaries or community records that go beyond what official government files contain. For anyone doing in-depth genealogy research in Ramsey County, a visit or contact with the historical society is worth the time.

The society's collection reflects the diversity and depth of Ramsey County's history as a major urban county in Minnesota. Records from the immigrant communities that settled in St. Paul and surrounding areas, church records, and neighborhood histories can all help fill in details around a death that official documents leave out. Combining the historical society's files with the county vital records office and the MNHS archive gives researchers the broadest possible coverage of Ramsey County death history.

Minnesota Historical Society Death Records

The Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul holds the state's central archive of historical death certificates from 1904 through 2001. This collection covers all Minnesota counties, and Ramsey County's large population means a substantial number of records in the archive are from this county. Death cards from 1904 to 1907, the early format before standard certificates were used, are also in the collection. The MNHS archive is open to any member of the public without requiring family ties.

Search the MNHS collection at mnhs.org/search/people. The people search tool covers the full name index for the entire archive. If you find a match, you can get a copy by visiting MNHS in person or by submitting a remote request. The MNHS library is in St. Paul, which is also where Ramsey County is centered, making in-person research practical for local researchers. The MNHS death records help page at mnhs.org/search/people/about/deathrecords explains what each record type contains and how to use the collection.

Ramsey County Genealogy Resources

The Ramsey County MNGenWeb project at ramsey.mngenweb.net is a volunteer genealogy site with transcribed records, cemetery data, and local research links for the county. It is free to use. Given Ramsey County's size and history, the site may have indexes and finding aids that help narrow down a search before you contact an office directly.

The MNGenWeb Ramsey County page links to cemetery records, vital record transcriptions, and other local resources that add to the official county and state databases.

FamilySearch has a free Minnesota vital records guide at familysearch.org that covers all counties and explains registration history. The MDH vital records page at health.state.mn.us/vitalrecords/death explains how to order death certificates from MDH directly. The county registrar directory at health.state.mn.us/registrars lists the Ramsey County office alongside all other county offices in Minnesota.

Cities in Ramsey County

Ramsey County is one of Minnesota's most densely populated counties. Its largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital. Death records for all cities and communities in Ramsey County are filed with the county vital records office and with the Minnesota Department of Health.

Other communities in Ramsey County include Roseville, Shoreview, Maplewood, Little Canada, and Falcon Heights. These cities do not have dedicated pages on this site but their death records are on file with the Ramsey County vital records office.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Ramsey County. Each maintains its own vital records office for death certificates and related records.