This informtion was passed on from another Minnesota county coordinator, I find it very interesting and hope it will be some help to other Minnesota researchers.
I recently spent some time searching for naturalization papers in Duluth.
While I knew that these people naturalized in Duluth, I was never able to
find their papers in the St. Louis County Circuit Court Nat. Papers. I was
not aware at the time that naturalizations were also (and still are) being
done in the District Courts. Below is the information I was given by the
District Court in Duluth. If this is not new to you I apologize, I was very
excited after searching for 4 years and finally finding the papers and
thought I would pass it on. The clerks in the Duluth office are very helpful
and friendly to genealogists <g>.
The Fifth Division in Duluth has available the index to nats from 1893. You
can obtain the accession number and then write to the National Archives -
Great Lakes Region for the Naturalization papers (without this number the
archives will not look up the papers). 1927-present naturalizations are kept
in a card file, alphabetically with name changes listed. I was told there is
no privacy acts and the information is all available to the public. The
Duluth office charges $15.00/name search (must be a written request) and 50
cents/copied page. If you walk in to the courthouse there is no fee except
for the copying charge.
The State of Minnesota constitutes on judicial district, divided into six
divisions:
First Division - Winona: Counties in the First Division are: Dodge, Fillmore,
Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha and Winona
Second Division - Mankato: Counties in the Second Division are: Blue Earth,
Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Jackson, Lac qui Parle, LeSueur,
Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock,
Sibley, Waseca, Watonwan and Yellow Medicine
Third Division - St. Paul: Counties in the Third Division are: Chisago,
Dakota, Goodhue, Ramsey, Rice, Scott and Washington
Fourth Division - Minneapolis: Counties in the Fourth Division are: Anoka,
Carver, Chippewa, Hennepin, Isanti, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Renville,
Sherburne, Swift and Wright
Fifth Division - Duluth: Counties in the Fifth Division are: Aitkin, Benton,
Carlton, Cass, Cook, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Mille
Lacs, Morrison, Pine and St. Louis
Sixth Division - Fergus Falls: Counties in the Sixth Division are: Becker,
Beltrami, Big Stone, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake
of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Pope,
Red Lake, Roseau, Stearns, Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin
First, Second and Third Divisions are now combined and the address is:
St. Paul Courthouse
708 Federal Bldg
316 North Robert St.
St. Paul, MN 55101
Fourth Division address:
US Courthouse, Suite 202
300 South Fourth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Fifth and Sixth are now combined, address is:
US District Court
417 Federal Bldg
515 West First St
Duluth, MN 55802