Indiana Room Collection & Searchable Resources

Tools for researching current and historical information.

 

At War and At Home This digital collection helps us examine what Bloomington and Monroe County were like before, during, and after the Civil War.

Businesses Find the latest stats and trends for state and local business.

Community Organizations Search our database of organizations in Bloomington, Monroe County and the surrounding communities. Compiled by MCPL staff.

Census 1930 (Excel) Search our index of the Monroe County Census.

Civil War Regiments from Monroe County (Excel) Search for local soldiers who served in the Civil War.

Coroner's Reports (pdf) Search for report summaries of deaths by the Monroe County Coroner's Office from 1896 - 1935.

Family History Files (pdf) Search by surname our collection of books and vertical files donated to our library by genealogists.

Genealogy Link to websites we like, including Ancestry.com, Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com), and Heritage Quest.

Grants for Area Nonprofits and Individuals The library is a Cooperating Collection of the Foundation Center, which is the nation's largest publisher for grant makers and funders. The collection and database are available on at the Main Library only. Finanacial support of these databases come from the United Way of Mornoe County.

Indiana Bedrock Our photographic collection of Monroe County's early limestone artists, craftsmen, and workers, placed in a context that is meaningful, memorable, and accessible to all.

Magazine Indexes

        Bloom Magazine has partnered with MCPL to post their index online.

        The Hoosier Genealogist: Connections Indexes by the Indiana Historical Society.

        Indiana Magazine of History-- Full text articles (1905 - current) are online.

        Indianapolis Monthly-- See www.inspire.net for index.

        Outdoor Indiana Index (1990-2002). Earlier indexes (1966-1990) are available.

        Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History Index (1996 -2005)

Maps -- Browse our collection of plat maps of property owners, topographical maps, wetlands, county roads, and more dating from 1820 to current.

Microfilm Collection -- Various listings including early records for deeds, county commissioners, marriages, estate, quit claim, soldiers discharge papers, and more.

Local History Files on Microfilm (Excel) -- Browse our index to local history submitted by the community.

Local Meeting Rooms -- The library does provide meeting rooms for the community and they can be reserved online. For additional options, the Indiana Room maintains this list of local meeting rooms.

Local Newspapers on Microfilm (PDF)-- Browse our collection of area newspapers on microfilm dating back to 1824. The last 3 months are available in print.

Local Newspaper Vertical Clippings File Index (Excel)-- Search our index covering subjects about area people, industries, organizations, government, school, buildings, crimes and criminals, and events. Find listings of similar files held by our partner, the Monroe County History Center.

Local Newspapers Index -- Search The Herald Times for the years 1985 - 2005. For an index for the years 1988 - current, go to The Herald Times Online.

Obituary Index -- Search for obituaries from the Bloomington Herald-Times and The Herald-Telephone. Also included are some obituaries published in The Christian Record, which was published during the years 1843 to 1884 with several interruptions.

Oral History Files Index (Excel) -- Browse or search by individuals in the community who told their stories to researchers as part of the IU Oral History Project in the 1970s.

PCB Documents -- Browse our collection of documents relating to the Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) contamination and clean-up of several Monroe County sites. The Indiana Room serves as a repository for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which publishes updates relating to PCBs.

Yearbooks -- Browse our listing of yearbooks for middle and high schools within Monroe County. We also have Indiana University Yearbooks.

Yearbook Index-- Search by name for faculty, staff, and students in area yearbooks. This database is maintained by library staff and volunteers and continually updated.