Houma Genealogy Records Lookup
Houma genealogy records are maintained by the Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court, located in Houma as the parish seat. Researchers can access land, marriage, probate, and court records through the clerk's office, with older vital records available through the Louisiana State Archives. The Terrebonne Parish Library also holds a strong Cajun genealogy collection, including church records and local newspapers.
Houma Quick Facts
Houma Genealogy Records at the Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court
The Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court is the primary records office for Houma genealogy research. As the parish seat, Houma is where all Terrebonne Parish land records, mortgage filings, marriage licenses, succession and probate documents, and 32nd Judicial District Court records are maintained. The clerk's office is the first stop for most Houma family history searches.
| Office | Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court |
|---|---|
| Address | 7856 Main Street, Suite 100, Houma, LA 70360 |
| Phone | (985) 873-6535 |
| Houma City Court | 8046 Main Street, Houma, LA 70360 |
| City Court Phone | (985) 868-4232 |
Marriage licenses in Terrebonne Parish name both parties, their ages, birthplaces, witnesses, parents, and the officiant. Records go back into the 19th century and cover the Houma area and all of Terrebonne Parish. Succession and probate filings name all heirs and include property inventories. Land records trace ownership of property in the bayou country over multiple generations, often naming families with deep Cajun and Native American roots in the Terrebonne wetlands region.
The Houma City Court at 8046 Main Street, phone (985) 868-4232, clerk Doug Holloway, handles minor civil matters within the city limits. The 32nd JDC handles major civil matters including succession, divorce, and guardianship, with those records filed at the clerk's office. Both courts can provide records useful for genealogy research.
Search Houma Genealogy Records Online
Terrebonne Parish participates in eClerks LA, which provides free public index access to land, mortgage, and marriage records. Search by name and date range to locate index entries. The ClerkConnect platform may also provide document image access for Terrebonne Parish records. Both are accessible from home.
The Terrebonne Parish Library at 151 Library Drive, Houma, phone (985) 876-5861, website www.mytpl.org, holds a Louisiana Room with a strong Cajun genealogy collection. Holdings include Terrebonne Parish church records on microfilm, local newspapers, census records, and family histories focused on the bayou country of south Louisiana. Staff familiar with Cajun genealogy traditions can help identify relevant collections. Church records are often particularly important in this area because Catholic baptismal, marriage, and burial records predate civil registration and document families going back much further than parish clerk filings.
Note: Cajun genealogy in the Terrebonne area often requires searching both civil records and Catholic church records. The two collections together give a much more complete picture than either alone.
Louisiana State Archives Records for Houma
The Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge holds Terrebonne Parish vital records that meet the access thresholds under RS 40:41: death records open 50 years after the event and birth records open after 100 years. The online index at the State Archives vital records index is free to search. The full State Archives research resources page describes the broader collections, including church records on microfilm and census indexes relevant to south Louisiana families.
The Archives is at 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, open Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Photocopies cost $5; certified copies are $10. Mail requests go to P.O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125 with a 4-6 week turnaround. For Houma researchers with deep bayou-country roots, the Archives holds records that extend family lines back well before the Civil War.
Vital Records for Houma Residents
Louisiana is a closed record state. Birth and death certificates for Houma residents are not available at the parish clerk level. All requests go to the Vital Records Registry in New Orleans at 1450 Poydras Street, Suite 400, phone (504) 593-5100, open Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Birth certificates cost $15; death certificates are $7. Mail requests take 8-10 weeks.
Online ordering through VitalChek is the fastest option for Houma residents. The Vital Records Registry is in New Orleans, which is about an hour from Houma, making a walk-in visit feasible for residents who need records quickly and want to handle the transaction in person.
Genealogy Resources in Houma
The Terrebonne Parish Library's Louisiana Room is the primary local starting point for Houma genealogy research. The collection focuses on Cajun families of the south Louisiana bayou country and includes church records, newspapers, family histories, and census materials. The library is a key resource for researchers tracing Cajun, Houma Native American, and Creole family lines that have deep roots in Terrebonne Parish. The Louisiana State Library provides additional statewide support, and the National Archives at Fort Worth at archives.gov/fort-worth holds federal records including census and military files for Louisiana.
The Terrebonne Parish Library Louisiana Room is shown below, a specialized collection for Cajun and south Louisiana genealogy research in the Houma area.
The library's genealogy collection covers Terrebonne Parish families going back well into the 19th century, with particular strength in Cajun and Catholic church records that are essential for south Louisiana family research.
What Houma Genealogy Records Contain
Birth records for Houma residents list the child's full name, birth date and place, parents' names, ages, and birthplaces, plus the informant and filing date. Death records add cause of death, marital status, spouse's name, and burial location. Marriage licenses from Terrebonne Parish name both parties, their ages and birthplaces, witnesses, parents, and the officiant. Land records describe the property and identify the grantor, grantee, price, and date. Probate filings name all heirs and include inventories of personal property. Church records, when available, add baptism dates, sponsors, and godparents not found in civil records.
Under RS 44:1, most Louisiana government records are public. Land, court, and succession documents at the Terrebonne Parish Clerk are accessible to any researcher. The 32nd JDC civil records document family relationships through divorce, guardianship, and civil proceedings. Houma's Cajun genealogy tradition means that church records and civil records complement each other to produce richer family documentation than either source alone can provide. Researchers working on Terrebonne Parish families will find strong coverage through the clerk, the library, and the State Archives combined.
Terrebonne Parish Genealogy Records
Houma is in Terrebonne Parish, so genealogy records are filed through the Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court. For full details on the clerk office, online access systems, fees, and all record types available, visit the parish page.
Nearby Cities
These nearby cities in south Louisiana each have their own genealogy record pages with local resource details.