Only Hood County's Precinct 5 survived the fire that destroyed most of the 1890 Census. What Happened to the 1890 Federal Census? from Genealogy Today - April 1998 Many genealogy researchers have become frustrated once they began searching for the 1890 US Federal Census. Soon, the researchers learn the 1890 Schedules was destroyed by a fire in the National Archives in 1921. January 10, 1921, in the afternoon, the building fireman reported seeing smoke in the basement of the Commerce Building where the schedules were located and the fire department was called. They contained the fire to the basement level but flooded most of the area. These records were allowed to remain soaking in the water overnight and the next day the damage was assessed. The schedules were located in a basement vault that was considered to be fireproof and waterproof. Upon assessment they found a small broken pane of glass which had allowed the water to seep in and damaged some of the schedules that were located in the low shelves. Those schedules were opened and dried and recopied. However, the 1890 schedule was located outside the vault and it was determined that the 1890 records were ruined and that no method of restoration would restore them. A cause of that 1921 fire was never determined, although there was some speculation that a worker was smoking and that started the blaze or the stacks of paper spontaneously combusted. In 1932 a list of papers to be destroyed was sent to the Librarian of Congress which included the original 1890 schedules that still remained. Congress authorized the destruction of the papers listed and in 1934 those remaining schedules were destroyed by the Department of Commerce. However, some of the original schedules still exist. In 1942 a bundle of the 1890 Illinois schedules was discovered during a move. In 1953 more fragments from a few states were discovered. These few 1890 censuses have all been filmed and are available through your local library, state archive, and Family History Centers. - ---------------------------- Surviving 1890 Censuses: http://www.censusresearch.com/1890.htm Thank you, Virginia Hale WebPages Staff Editor Hood County Genealogical Society