Search St. Louis Obituary Records

St. Louis obituary records date back to 1850, the oldest in the state of Missouri. As an independent city that sits outside any county, St. Louis handles its own vital records through the Recorder of Deeds office. The St. Louis Public Library runs one of the best obituary indexes in the state, with searchable death notices from the Post-Dispatch and the Argus going back over a century. If you need a death certificate, an old obituary clipping, or a burial record in St. Louis, this page covers where to look and how to get what you need.

St. Louis Obituary: An Independent City

St. Louis is not part of any county. It split from St. Louis County in 1876 and has operated as an independent city ever since. That means St. Louis keeps its own vital records, separate from St. Louis County. The St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds at 1200 Market St., Room 126, St. Louis, MO 63103 handles death certificates, marriage records, and land records. Call 314-613-3016 for details.

This is an important point for anyone looking for St. Louis obituary records. If a person died in the city of St. Louis, you go through the city Recorder of Deeds. If they died in an area like Florissant or Clayton, those fall under St. Louis County, which has its own separate office. Mixing up the two is one of the most common mistakes in St. Louis area obituary research.

St. Louis Death Certificates

The St. Louis Recorder of Deeds has death records from 1850 to the present. Certified copies cost $15 each. The office has request forms on the St. Louis municipal government website. About 60% of deaths from 1850 to 1910 were recorded, so gaps exist in the early years. Under RSMo 193.255, you must show direct and tangible interest to get a certified death certificate. That means close family, legal representatives, and authorized agents.

For older records, the Missouri State Archives has death certificates from 1910 through about 1974 with scanned images. Under RSMo 193.225, death records over 50 years old transfer to the archives. Copies from the State Archives cost $1 each. The Missouri Digital Heritage site also has free pre-1910 St. Louis death records.

St. Louis Library Obituary Collections

The St. Louis Public Library at 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103 runs a genealogy room with strong obituary research tools. Call 314-539-0385 to reach the genealogy desk. The library holds one of the most useful obituary databases in Missouri.

The St. Louis Public Library genealogy room offers access to subscription databases and local record collections for obituary research.

The St. Louis Obituary Index is the standout tool here. It has names from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Argus. Coverage years include 1880 to 1931, 1942 to 1945, 1960 to 1970, January through June of 1971, and 1992 to 2023. The index includes burial permits, funeral notices, obituary articles, and fraternal notices. The Argus coverage runs from 1915 to 1922 and 1930 to 1997, with sections for Death of the Week, Card of Thanks, and In Memoriam. This is the best single source for St. Louis obituary names.

The library's obituary search tool lets you look up names from both the Post-Dispatch and the Argus in one search.

The library also has the full Historic St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1874 to 2003, Newsbank text archives from 1988 to the present, and access to Newspapers.com for older papers like the St. Louis Globe Democrat. Library card holders can use Newsbank from home for free.

Missouri Historical Society Research

The Missouri Historical Society at 225 South Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112 runs the Missouri History Museum. Their research center has 90,000 books and periodicals, St. Louis newspapers, fire insurance maps, city directories, a St. Louis people index, and records from the western fur trade era. You can order copies of records through their website. Call 314-746-4500 for research help.

The Missouri Historical Society research library serves as a key resource for St. Louis obituary and genealogy work.

St. Louis Genealogical Society

The St. Louis Genealogical Society has produced CD transcriptions of St. Louis death registers and publishes indexes and research guides. They focus on the St. Louis metro area. The society has compiled the St. Louis City Death Records Index covering 1850 to 1902, which is also on Ancestry.com. There are three gaps in that index: February 12 to May 4 of 1860, August 14 to December 31 of 1868, and July 24 to December 31 of 1907.

The St. Louis Genealogical Society offers research classes and helps connect people with local St. Louis obituary resources.

The original St. Louis City death registers from February 1850 through January 1909 are hard to read. The handwriting on many entries is faded or unclear. Using the Genealogical Society's index first can save time and help you find the right register volume and page number before trying to read the originals.

St. Louis Cemetery and Burial Records

Bellefontaine Cemetery at 4947 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis, MO 63115 has burial records from 1849. Call 314-381-0750 for research help. The city also maintained a Burial Certificate Registry that can serve as a backup when names on the death register are hard to read. German language newspapers in St. Louis, like the Westliche Post, have death notice indexes from 1876 to 1893. These sit at the St. Louis County Library.

Note: The St. Louis American newspaper, serving the African American community since 1928, has archives from 1949 to 2010 and can be a useful source for St. Louis obituary records in that community.

Public Access to St. Louis Records

Under RSMo Chapter 610, public records in Missouri are open for inspection. Vital records have limits. Under RSMo 193.245, sharing vital record information outside what the law allows is not permitted. But death records over 50 years old can be given to anyone. The Missouri Death Index covers St. Louis deaths from 1954 to 2024. The library's obituary index and the State Archives databases are all free to use and open to the public.

Nearby Cities

Florissant is in St. Louis County just north of the city. The St. Charles area cities of O'Fallon, St. Charles, and St. Peters are west across the Missouri River.

St. Louis City Records

St. Louis is an independent city and does not belong to any county. For records in neighboring St. Louis County, including Florissant and other suburbs, visit the St. Louis County page.