Nome Census Area Death Records
Death records for Nome Census Area are maintained by the Alaska Health Analytics and Vital Records Section, the state agency that issues all certified death certificates in Alaska. Nome Census Area has no borough government and no local vital records office. All requests for Nome area death certificates must go through the state. This page explains how Alaska's centralized system works for Nome Census Area residents and researchers, and identifies where to find historical death records that date as far back as 1813.
Nome Census Area Overview
How Nome Census Area Death Records Work
Nome Census Area is part of Alaska's unorganized borough, a statistical division used for census purposes with no borough-level government. There is no local office that maintains vital records. All death certificates for deaths that occurred in the Nome Census Area are held at the state level by the Health Analytics and Vital Records Section (HAVRS).
Alaska Statute AS 18.50 governs all vital records in the state. Death records are restricted for 50 years from the date of death. Records from before 1975 are now open to any researcher. More recent records require proof of an eligible relationship. Nome's gold rush era created one of the most densely populated regions in Alaska in the early 1900s, and the death records from that period are particularly well-documented compared to other census areas.
Statewide death registration began in 1913, but Nome has records that predate that system significantly. The 1813-1959 Nome Death Records collection at FamilySearch documents deaths in the Nome area across nearly 150 years of recorded history. The gold rush brought tens of thousands of people to Nome between 1899 and the early 1900s, and the mortality records from that era are an important part of Alaska genealogical research.
Requesting Nome Census Area Death Certificates
Certified death certificates for Nome Census Area are ordered through the state HAVRS ordering system. Requests can be submitted in person, online through VitalChek, or by mail or fax. Email submissions are not accepted.
The Anchorage office at 3901 Old Seward Hwy, Ste. 101, Anchorage, AK 99503, phone (907) 269-0991, is the closest state walk-in location for Nome area residents. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Juneau office at 5441 Commercial Blvd., Juneau, AK 99801, phone (907) 465-3391, fax (907) 465-3618, runs the same schedule. Mail requests go to Health Analytics and Vital Records, P.O. Box 110675, Juneau, AK 99811-0675.
The first certified copy costs $30. Each additional copy ordered at the same time costs $25. An apostille for foreign use costs $42. A record verification costs $2.50. VitalChek orders process in 2 to 3 weeks for standard service. Mail and fax requests take 2 to 3 months. All requests must include a completed application, government-issued ID copy, and payment.
Note: Use one submission method per request only to avoid duplicate processing charges.
Historical Nome Death Record Collections
Nome has some of the most historically significant death record collections in Alaska. Through the Alaska State Archives and FamilySearch digitization project, the Alaska, Nome, Death Records (1813-1959) collection is available through the FamilySearch Catalog. This spans 146 years of Nome area death records, from early Russian America through the territorial period. Additional collections include the Alaska, Council City, Marriage and Death Records (1901-1915) and the Alaska, Teller, Death Records (1913-1958), which document neighboring communities within the broader Nome precinct area.
The Nome Recorder's volumes, which document land ownership and vital events in the Nome area, were placed on loan to the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum in 2005. Researchers interested in Nome records from the gold rush era should contact the museum directly. The Alaska State Archives at 395 Whittier St., Juneau, AK 99811-0571, phone (907) 465-2270, can help identify which record groups are available for specific Nome area communities and time periods.
The statewide Alaska Vital Records 1816-2005 collection at FamilySearch includes Nome materials within the broader territorial registration system. The Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch, covering 1962 to the present, is a useful cross-reference for more recent Nome Census Area deaths.
Research Resources for Nome Census Area
The Alaska State Library genealogy resources page offers tools for Nome Census Area research. The Alaska and Polar Periodical Index at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library indexes articles from Alaska periodicals, many of which covered Nome area news during the gold rush and early territorial periods. The State Library Historical Collections also hold non-government materials relevant to Nome genealogy.
Cemetery records for Nome and surrounding communities are indexed at Find a Grave and BillionGraves. Nome's gold rush cemeteries include graves of individuals from across the United States and beyond, making cemetery research an important supplement to formal death certificate work. The National Archives in Seattle, phone (206) 336-5115, holds federal records for Alaska including some from the Nome district during the territorial period.