Requesting Homestead Records

Patent information can be found on the Bureau of Land Managment's General Land Office Records website. This database includes names, land description, total acres, patent date, and authority used to obtain the land. Researchers can use this website to confirm if somone homesteaded or obtained land through other means.

The original land-entry case files are held by the National Archives in downtown Washington, D.C. These records describe improvements made to the property and include many details of a homesteader's life. Currently, case files for homesteads in ten states that were completed by 1908 have been digitized. All other records need to requested from the National Archives.

Importance of the Legal Land Description

Most homestead entries were made on land surveyed in the rectangular system that was mandated by Congress in 1785. Each piece of land is by numbered section, township, and range in the rectangular survey system. Employees of the General Land Office were focused on which tracts of public land had been claimed not the name of the individuals who had claimed them. Therefore, researchers often need the legal description of the homessteader's land to find records. Researchers can often obtain a legal description of the land from the country recorder of deeds where the land was located.

 

A map showing the progress and future progress of the Homestead Records Project

NPS Photo

Searching the Online Database

If you are researching Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Wyoming, and/or Utah Homesteaders, you can search for their homestead records (up to 1908) at Homestead National Historical Park for free.

You can also conduct these searches for free at University of Nebraska-Lincoln or at Family History Centers. You may also search for digitized homestead records from your own computer on Fold3.com and Ancestry.com, both of which require a subscription for these premium records.

If you are unable to visit the park or access these records yourself, you may submit a reserach request to the staff at Homestead National Historical Park for copies of the files.

 

Research Requests

Learn about requesting digitized Homestead records and researching the archives and museum collection at Homestead National Historical Park.

Researching Homesteading

 

Ordering a Land-Entry Case File from the National Archives

Requests for land-entry case files at the National Archives must be submitted on NATF Form 84. The researcher must know the name of the homesteader, the state in which the land is located, and the approximate date of entry. Certain states require more information (see below).

Orders may be submitted online or by mail. Forms may be mailed to:

Archival Operations Washington D.C.
Form 84 – Land
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20408-0001

Please allow several months between ordering the applications forms and receiving reproductions of the case files.

Pre-1908 homestead in states with name indexes

(Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and Utah)

To request a case file for a pre-July 1908 homestead claim in a states for which name indexes exist, the researcher must know the name of the homesteader, the state in which the land is located, and the approximate date of entry.

Pre-1908 homestead in a Western public domain state without a name index

(California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming)

To request a case file for a pre-July 1908 homestead claim, the researcher must provide the National Archives with the name of the homesteader, the state in which the land is located, the approximate date of entry, and either a legal description of the land or the name of the land office and the land entry file number. Except for homesteads in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, this information may be obtained from the General Land Office Records posted at the Bureau of Land Management website www.glorecords.blm.gov.

Pre-1908 homestead in an Eastern public domain state without a name index

(Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin)

To request a case file for a pre-July 1908 homestead claim, the researcher must provide the National Archives with the name of the homesteader, the state in which the land is located, the approximate date of entry, the file number, and the name of the land office that issued the file. Except for homesteads in Iowa, this information may be obtained from General Land Office records posted at the Bureau of Land Management website www.glorecords.blm.gov.

Post-1908 homestead

Post-1908 homestead records are arranged numerically by patent number, and name indexes exist for all the public domain states. To request a case file for a post-July 1908 homestead claim, the researcher must provide the National Archives with the name of the homesteader, the state in which the land is located, and the approximate date of entry.

Information on post-1908 homesteads in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming may be obtained from General Land Office records posted at the Bureau of Land Management website www.glorecords.blm.gov. Post-1908 homesteads for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin are currently being added to the website.

 

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