Genealogy

The curator of the Parke County Historical Museum is Karin Woodson.  Karin is a wealth of information on Parke County.  During the Museum’s regular office hours, Karin can be reached at 765-569-2223.

The Parke County Historical Museum has the following genealogy materials available:

       Parke County 1874 Record

      Parke County 1906 Plat Map

       Memories of Parke County Indiana

       Old Covered Bridge Tour Records by Township
 

OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES:

Rockville Public Library:  http://rockvillepl.lib.in.us/.  The Rockville Public Library is located at 196 N. Market St., Rockville, IN  47872.  765-569-5544. 
This library contains a multitude of records pertinent to genealogical research.
Information is available at the Rockville Public Library in the Genealogy section of its Special Collections. 
While the library’s genealogy collection does not circulate, it includes but is not limited to:         -  Parke County National Register of Historic Places
-      Parke County Veteran’s Records
- Family Histories
   -  Birth and Death Records
    - Census Records & Indexes
 -  Marriage Records
 - Cemetery Listings
County Histories
Will Records
- Microfilmed Local Newspapers from 1854
- Parke County SAR/DAR Genealogy Records
 -  Parke County Revolutionary War Veterans Records
- Plat Maps and Many Miscellaneous Item

Another great source is the Parke County Indiana GenWeb Site: http://www.ingenweb.org/inparke/.  The USGenWeb project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide free websites for genealogical research in every state in the United States.

The Parke County GenWeb site is excellent; providing all types of information arranged in a variety of categories.  Below is the home page for the site...                           

 
GOVERNMENT CONTACTS:

Contact information for all of the Parke County Governmental offices can be obtained at http://www.parkecounty-in.gov/home. 
Most of these offices are in the Parke County Courthouse (116 W. High St., Rockville, IN  47874-1874), located in the 
center of the town square in Rockville, IN.  These offices are not open on the weekend.  Specific contacts include: 
Birth and Death Records –Parke County Health Dept:  Room 12.   Phone 765- 569-6665.
Land Records – Parke County Recorder:  Room 102.  Phone 765-569-3419.
Marriage & Court Records – Parke County Clerk: Room 204.  Phone 765-569-5132.


MORE LINKS:

FamilySearch: https://familysearch.org/
Indiana Historical Society:  http://www.indianahistory.org/  Check the “Collections” tab on this site.
Indiana Genealogical Society:  http://www.indgensoc.org/
Wabash Valley Genealogy Society: 
http://inwvgs.org/

ADDITIONAL PARKE COUNTY RESEARCH TIPS:

Many Parke County marriage records were lost in an 1833 courthouse fire.

        Indiana Law required Vital Records to be kept beginning only in 1882.  Strict enforcement of that law did not happen until much later.  As a result, early birth and death records may not exist for your ancestor who died in Parke County during that time.  

     Check neighboring county records.  Many Parke County townships had “News Reports” as regular columns or features in the newspapers of Terre Haute, Brazil, Crawfordsville or other towns in the area.

The 1920 census records for the Parke County townships of Florida, Greene and Wabash are confirmed lost by the U.S. Census Bureau.