Mason County Deed Records
The County Clerk's Record Room holds Mason County deed records. According to the Clerk's vital-statistics page, deeds date back to 1804. The county publishes no online grantor-grantee index, though. A recorded deed shows a conveyance and the land description used at the time. It cannot prove the land is free of later liens, easements, releases, or unrecorded claims.
The Clerk's recording notice sorts instruments by type. Not every filed document transfers ownership. A deed conveys an interest, a deed of trust secures debt, and a release clears a recorded claim. Use those labels when framing a request. For a fuller property search, pull the parcel from the assessor system first. Then take the deed reference to the Clerk.
| Deed Type | What It Does | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| Deed with consideration | Records a conveyance where consideration is stated; transfer tax also applies. | Sale or other transfer with stated value. |
| Deed without consideration | Records a conveyance without stated consideration. | Transfer that is not reported as a consideration deed. |
| Deed of trust | Records a security instrument tied to debt, not a simple owner change. | Loan or other secured obligation. |
| Trustee report of sale | Reports a trustee sale instrument category listed by the Clerk. | Follow-up to a trustee sale; verify the recorded deed. |
| Release or right of way | Changes or documents a claim, easement, or land-use interest. | Check title context and the legal description. |
The Clerk's fee notice lists far more than deeds. Affidavits, agreements, assignments, land contracts, leases, judgments, lis pendens, mechanic's liens, powers of attorney, statutory liens, fixture filings, and subordination agreements all appear there. Use the exact instrument label in any request. A court complaint or an assessor owner field can point toward a deed, but neither replaces the recorded document itself.
Mason County's Deed History
Mason County's record start is unusually clear. That kind of precision is rare. The County Clerk states that deeds date to 1804, marriage records to 1806, fiduciary files to 1840, and birth and death records to 1853. Those are series dates for the local volumes. They say nothing about which books are indexed online. The current courthouse, completed in 1956, is the county's second, and a WV Judiciary account notes an impression of the first courthouse in its sandstone exterior.
The digital split shapes any chain of title. Current assessor attributes and statewide parcel maps sit online, ready for a parcel search. The oldest deeds remain a Record Room question. The county publishes no online deed-index cutoff. Ask the Clerk which years staff can search, which sit on microfilm or a terminal, and which live only in paper books.
The County Clerk's local record page is the source for those date ranges and copy instructions.
Year markers help you plan a deed search. Only the office can confirm which books and index volumes cover a given instrument. A family-chain question is different from a land transfer. The West Virginia Vital Registration request page explains the state route. It covers birth and death certificates. Certificates may identify a person, but they never transfer an interest in land.
Use a certificate only to clarify a family relationship. For proof of the parcel conveyance itself, return to the Clerk's recorded deed.
Ask the Mason County Clerk
Mason County publishes no grantor-grantee index on its official web pages. That is an access gap, not a sign that deeds are missing. Call the County Clerk at 304-675-1997 or visit the Record Room at 200 Sixth Street, Suite 7, Point Pleasant. Ask whether a staff lookup, public terminal, vendor index, book/page search, or paper index covers the years you need.
Come prepared with details. Give the current owner's name as it appears in IAS, the parcel ID, any deed book and page shown, the approximate recording year, and the legal description. Ask whether deeds, deeds of trust, releases, plats, liens, and lis pendens sit in separate indexes. If the search runs by party name only, ask how the office indexes an LLC, a trustee, an executor, or a married couple.
Online listings show weekday office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone ahead to confirm hours and the current copy or certification charge.
The Mason County Clerk's office page identifies the Record Room and its duties.
Use the official contact page to confirm current access details before a courthouse visit.
Mason County Recording Steps
The County Clerk's recording-fee PDF explains how to submit a deed in Mason County. It covers mail or hand delivery. Once recorded, the original document comes back the following week. Every deed must carry a Sales Listing Form. Fee charts split deed types apart. Transfer tax applies to a deed with consideration. So check the current PDF instead of trusting an old note for the amount.
The notice sorts instruments into four chart categories. Chart A gathers agreements, assignments, judgments, leases, liens, and releases. It also holds rights of way, powers of attorney, and subordination agreements. Chart B holds deeds without consideration, deeds of trust, and fixture filings. Chart C covers deeds with consideration plus transfer tax. Chart D names a trustee report of sale. Read the County Clerk's recording instructions before sending anything to record. That PDF offers no public search form. It is no stand-in for confirmation in the record room. Need an existing public record? The West Virginia FOIA access provision describes how to ask its custodian directly.
The statute concerns access to public records, so treat deed searching and new recording as two separate services of the Mason County Clerk.
Mason County Grantor-Grantee Search
A grantor transfers the interest. The grantee receives it. To trace a deed chain in Mason County, start with the current grantee. Find the prior grantor, then follow that party back as a grantee in an earlier deed. The county's own pages do not state whether the Record Room keeps separate grantor and grantee books. Nor do they confirm a single combined index. Confirm the actual search method before assuming a statewide portal covers local deeds.
- Use the assessor result to identify the owner, parcel, book/page reference, and legal description.
- Ask the Record Room for the latest deed naming that owner as grantee and copy its grantor, date, and full land description.
- Search that grantor as an earlier grantee, using the prior-deed reference when the instrument gives one.
- Repeat until an estate, trustee, sheriff, corporate transfer, subdivision change, or older volume needs a different index.
- Grantor
- The person or entity that conveys the described interest.
- Grantee
- The person or entity receiving that interest.
- Chain of title
- The sequence of recorded transfers used to trace the land backward.
- Book and page
- A volume and page reference; use the Clerk's exact notation.
- Instrument number
- A filing identifier if the record uses one; the public pages do not confirm Mason's current format.
An assessor's Prior Ownership tab is not a complete chain. Its depth is unverified, and the summary record can list a single owner of record even when the deed names more than one party.
Mason County Plat and Map Records
A recorded deed in Mason County may point to a plat. It may also cite an easement, a right of way, an adjoining owner, or a metes-and-bounds description. Ask the Clerk's Record Room for the filed plat. Also ask for any later instrument that changed it. A tax map can orient a property search. But the recorded deed or plat supplies the controlling description for a conveyance.
The WV GIS clearinghouse offers downloadable county tax-map PDFs, including a 2023 Mason archive. Those state archive files carry an assessor ownership and reproduction notice. So a map viewed for research cannot be freely copied, altered, or redistributed. Ask the County Clerk for a plat book and page. Ask the Assessor which current district and map match an old lot number.
A recorded map may show the subdivision as filed. The present parcel card, meanwhile, reflects a later lot combination or split. Save both references. Also ask about vacation or re-subdivision documents whenever the lot numbers refuse to line up.
Probate and Deed Breaks
Ownership can pass through an estate before any new deed appears. The Clerk states that fiduciary records begin in 1840. Probate is listed among its duties. A deed may name an executor, administrator, or trustee. If so, request the related fiduciary case, appointment, order, and deed or distribution paper. A will or death certificate may explain the history. Neither replaces the recorded land transfer.
Foreclosure and tax-sale paths can add a court order, trustee report, sheriff's deed, redemption, or release. A title question may turn on a court case. Then search the Clerk's land instruments and the Circuit Clerk's civil file together. The statewide Magistrate Case Search is a name-based entry point only. It is not a complete Mason Circuit deed index. The Circuit Clerk records page is the local route for court-file questions. The West Virginia Magistrate Case Search is a separate statewide case tool.
Check any court-file clue against the recorded deed or order that actually affects the land. The West Virginia Magistrate Case Search opens to a name-based case entry screen.
Treat the statewide search as supplemental only. It does not replace the County Clerk's land instruments or a Circuit Clerk file.
Request a Mason County Deed
Start with a precise instrument reference. If no web index returns the Mason County deed, call 304-675-1997 or ask at the Record Room in person. Provide the names in both roles if known, plus the approximate year, address, parcel ID, book and page, and legal description. Say whether you need inspection, a plain copy, or certification. The fee notice's recording charges do not set the copy fee.
The Clerk also records new documents by mail or hand delivery, though a fresh filing differs from requesting a deed that already exists. When an index is not visible online, ask for a search estimate before mailing payment. A West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request should go to the custodian and name the instrument type and period. The response period runs five days, excluding weekends and legal holidays. That clock is no guarantee of production for archived books.
Recorded, not guaranteed. A Mason County deed proves what the instrument recorded, subject to its text and legal effect. It is not a title opinion and cannot show every unrecorded interest. For a purchase or boundary issue, have the full chain and description reviewed by the proper professional.