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Overview of the Collections

The State Archives is the permanent repository for important records of state government. Its holdings include approximately 25,000 cubic feet of records dating from the territorial period to the present.

Major collections begin with the records of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government from the 1790s through the present. These include papers of every governor; bills, acts and reports of the General Assembly; and proceedings of both the supreme and appellate courts.

Military records include holdings from the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War and veterans' enrollments from 1886, 1890, and 1894. Use of service records of Indiana veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and recent DD-214 discharges (1979-1987) are restricted under confidentiality requirements of the Federal government until seventy-five years after separation from service.

The Archives has records of the General Land Office for Indiana, including microfilm copies of tract books and the original plats and field notes made by federal surveyors. Other public land records originated in the Comptroller's office: i.e. Wabash and Erie canal, Michigan Road and swamp lands. Among other topics, land office records can be used to explore the history of Native Americans in Indiana.

Over 100,000 aerial photographs are in the Archives, including some of the earliest such photographs ever taken in Indiana. Photographs from the Department of Natural Resources and the State Fair Commission also comprise significant collections.

The Archives has an incomplete set of 1820-1880 federal censuses of agriculture and manufacturers for Indiana, as well as substantial collections from more than 400 state agencies and 92 counties. Among these are corporation packets and election returns from the secretary of state's office, causes heard by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, and important records for the history of health and welfare, education, crime and conservation.

Questions?

Contact the Indiana State Archives.

Note: When sending an email to the Indiana State Archives, please be sure to include a very clear subject heading, i.e, Civil War, Soldier's Home, Hospital Records, Morton Telegrams, etc. Emails without a clear subject heading may be mistaken as spam or a potential virus and be filtered out automatically. If you have not received an initial response from the Indiana State Archives within a few weeks, please resubmit your request.

Back to the Collections Index.