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Recently, a patron was reviewing water rights files from the 4th District Court for Utah County (Series 14435 – Civil Case Files, 1896-1958) when she discovered a sealed envelope of dirt or seeds in case #4076, Draper v. Draper. Being the curious archivist that she is, Heidi opened the envelope to discover the mystery material was indeed DIRT! Unfortunately, there

We are pleased to announce that two more years of death certificates are now available online as digital images. The years 1968 and 1969 first became publicly accessible 50 years after the dates of death on the certificates.  The State Archives works closely with the Office of Vital Records and Statistics in the Utah Department of Health. The OVRS is

Dr. Hubert F. Andrews had just graduated from the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons when he settled in Gunnison, Utah, in the summer of 1899, taking a job as a Sanpete County quarantine doctor. A year earlier in 1898, Utah’s State Board of Health directed local governments to form their own health boards to oversee the diagnosis of contagious

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during September 2021: Inventory of Payson District School Register from Nebo School District (Utah)., 1900-1901 Inventory of Governor portraits from Public Service Commission, 1970-2020. Inventory of Ordinances from Washington City (Utah), 1937-2021

This blog post was written by Jack Tingey, a 2021 Intern at the Utah State Archives and Records Service. Jack graduated from BYU with a BA in history and an emphasis on 19th century American history. In the spring of 1927, Esau Walton awaited forced sterilization under Utah’s eugenics laws. In May of that year, the state corrections board had ruled

Last month, Heidi and Alan (members of our Local Government team) found an unusual box labeled “valuable” when they were in Tooele City. Since there was interest in the contents of this mystery box, Heidi made an extra effort to inventory it quickly so we could share a little of what was inside. Let’s dig in! The underside of the

The traditional function of a map is to convey information about geography in a two-dimensional way and on a scale that is comprehensible to the user. Maps document relationships of places and geographical features to one another and allow for calculation of distances. They can show lakes, roads, rivers, towns, and even invisible jurisdictional boundaries. But the richest maps are

Our archivists write inventories as finding aids to describe records. Here are the newest ones created during August 2021: Inventory of Historical delinquent tax records from Grand County (Utah). County Treasurer, 1897-1905. Inventory of Tax sale records from Grand County (Utah). County Treasurer, 1899-1998. Inventory of Warrant registers from Grand County (Utah). County Treasurer, 1923-1958. Inventory of District histories from

Weeding is used to get rid of non-records (binders, folders, post-it notes, etc.), redundant records (i.e. form letters where we only need to preserve one), and misidentified records in archival collections. Archivists use their authority to weed as a collection management tool to best utilize resources, particularly physical storage and digital space. Archives RIM specialists add the phrase “with authority

This blog post was written by Emily Stoll, a summer 2021 Intern at the Utah State Archives and Records Service. She is a senior at Weber State University and working on her public history degree. On April 21st, 1897, the Pleasant Valley Coal Company located in Castle Gate, Utah, was robbed in broad daylight. Considered to be one of the