Repositories & Records
The Pendleton County Courthouse in Falmouth is the center for many county-level records.
The Pendleton County Clerk’s Office maintains land and marriage records, while the
Office of the Circuit
Court Clerk
oversees court case files. Many historical volumes are available on microfilm through the
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA).
Additional resources may be found through local libraries, historical societies, and
regional repositories serving northern Kentucky. River-focused research can be helpful
in Pendleton County, including records and accounts tied to the Licking River and the
South Fork Licking River corridor.
Notes
Research Notes:
Pendleton County deeds and probate often connect families across Bracken, Campbell, Kenton,
and later Grant County lines. Watch for repeated transactions and witnesses clustered by
neighborhood and creek/river corridors.
Migration Patterns:
Many families moved in from older northern Kentucky counties and later dispersed into
Grant and Harrison Counties, or northward toward the Cincinnati region. Expect to follow
families across county and state lines, especially near the Ohio River corridor.
Barton Papers:
The Barton Papers are a key Pendleton County collection and may include material not duplicated in
courthouse volumes.
Consult this collection when standard land, court, or naturalization-related searches come up empty.
Ohio River connections:
Pendleton County borders Clermont County, Ohio along the Ohio River. Some Pendleton County residents had
probate or
related proceedings handled in Ohio (especially Clermont or Hamilton Counties), even when families and land
remained
in Kentucky.
Forks of the Licking River geography:
Falmouth sits at the Forks of the Licking River. Court orders and land descriptions often reference the
Licking River
and the South Fork, which can help place families by neighborhood and river corridor.
Map is from the 1891 Appleton Map of Kentucky.
Found in the David Rumsey Map Collection.
