Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
Illinois Regional Archives Depositories[edit | edit source]
IRAD is a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories managed by the Illinois State Archives, housing the archival records of local Illinois counties, townships, municipalities and school districts. The seven Regional Depositories are housed on state university campuses scattered throughout Illinois.
Contact Information[edit | edit source]
Review the Regional Map and Contact Information page to determine the Regional Depository that holds the records for the county you want to research.
Collection Description[edit | edit source]
County Records[edit | edit source]
- County board proceedings files and meeting minutes
- Records of births, deaths and marriages
- Land deeds, mortgage and tax sale records
- Assessors' and collectors' tax books
- Poll books and voter registers
- Naturalization records, including declarations of intent
- Probate records, including wills and will records, case files, administrators' and executors' records, guardianship records, and inventory and appraisement records
- Civil and criminal court case files, chancery court case files (including divorces), docket books and court proceedings, and insanity proceedings and records
- Coroner's inquest records and inquest files
- Miscellaneous county records, including almshouse/county home records and jail registers.
Township, municipal, and school records[edit | edit source]
- Township meeting minutes
- Highway commissioners' minutes
- School trustees' minutes
- Pupil registers
- School land sale records
- City council proceedings files
- Meeting minutes
- Ordinance records
- City election records
Pre-1871 City of Chicago Records[edit | edit source]
- City Council proceedings files (1833-1942)
- Plats, atlases, and Sanborn Maps
- Election registers (1888, 1890 and 1892)
- Ordinance records (1837-1916)
Records Held at IRAD[edit | edit source]
Holdings Database for County Records:
- Go to: Local Governmental Records Holdings
- Select a county
- Click on Submit button
- Results are county records
- Complete list of all holdings by county: IRAD Local Government Record Listings
Requesting Research Help From IRAD–WIU[edit | edit source]
IRAD welcomes mail and telephone requests for research help. No email requests are available at this time. There is no charge for research help, except for photocopy costs. Do not send a self-addressed as it is not necessary. However, there may be a photocopy fee for which you will be billed. Unless an expenditure limit is set in advance by the researcher, authorization to produce photocopies will be requested for billings that exceed $5. Send your request directly to the IRAD regional depository holding the county records of interest.
In the request include:
- The full names of the persons they are researching
- The approximate year when these persons are expected to appear in the records
- The county which created the records
- Record titles/types to search
Additional information:
- Please include any additional information that may assist in locating the person or information requested (such as township or precinct for searches of tax and election records).
- Requests are limited to two names at a time. Please wait for a response to your initial request before submitting another one
- Send your request directly to the IRAD regional depository holding the county records of interest.