Elkhart County Genealogy Records
Elkhart County genealogy records are held in Goshen, the county seat, and at the Elkhart Public Library's Indiana Room, which is one of the more complete local genealogy collections in northern Indiana. Researchers searching for Elkhart County ancestors can access birth and death records at the county health department, marriage and court records at the clerk, land records at the recorder, and published family histories at the library. This page covers each source in detail.
Elkhart County Quick Facts
Elkhart County Health Department and Vital Records
The Elkhart County Health Department in Goshen holds birth and death records for county events from 1882 onward. The health department can be reached at 574-523-2283. Indiana required counties to begin registering births and deaths in 1882. If you need a record from before that year, church records and cemetery transcriptions are the primary alternatives, and both are well-represented in Elkhart County given its strong Mennonite and Amish communities, which kept detailed congregation records.
The Indiana Department of Health Vital Records Division at 2 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, handles statewide requests. Phone orders go through (866) 601-0891. Online orders use VitalChek. Mail orders are accepted using official IDOH forms. State death records begin in 1900 and birth records in 1907. Genealogy requests require showing the person named is deceased and was over 75 years old. The Indiana local health department map confirms contact information for the Elkhart County office.
Note: For Amish and Mennonite ancestors in Elkhart County, congregation birth and burial records may cover events that predate official government registration by several decades.
Elkhart County Clerk and Marriage Records
The Elkhart County Clerk's office in Goshen can be reached at 574-523-2371. The clerk maintains marriage records going back to the county's formation in 1830, as well as civil court filings and probate documents. For marriages before 1958, the clerk is the primary official source, since Indiana's statewide marriage index begins that year. Marriage license applications list the full names, ages, and residences of both parties.
Probate records at the clerk's office are a valuable resource for Elkhart County genealogy. Wills and estate inventories name heirs and describe property. Guardianship cases list minor children with ages and often the name of the surviving parent. If an Elkhart County ancestor died with real estate, a probate file almost certainly exists. Civil court records may also list family members in cases involving land disputes or guardianship. Indiana's Access to Public Records Act (IC 5-14-3) gives the public the right to inspect these filings. Under IC 5-14-3-4, restricted records become open 75 years after creation.
Elkhart Public Library Indiana Room
The Elkhart Public Library Indiana Room is a key genealogy resource for Elkhart County research. The Indiana Room holds published family histories, local newspaper indexes, cemetery transcriptions, and genealogical society publications specific to Elkhart County and surrounding northern Indiana counties. For researchers working on families with Amish, Mennonite, or other ethnic community ties, the Indiana Room's collections may include specialized materials not found at government offices.
Public library genealogy rooms often hold donated family papers and photograph collections that are unique to that institution. The Elkhart Public Library may have vertical files on local families and businesses, directories from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and subscriptions to genealogy databases accessible at library terminals. Contacting the library in advance to ask what is available for your specific Elkhart County family lines is a practical first step before visiting.
The Indiana State Library's network of county public libraries makes some resources available statewide, but materials in the Elkhart Public Library's Indiana Room are held locally and may not appear in any centralized catalog. A direct visit or phone inquiry is the best way to find out what is there.
Elkhart County Land Records
The Elkhart County Recorder in Goshen maintains deeds, mortgages, and plats for county land. Land records trace property through time and often name family members. A deed in Elkhart County may list neighboring landowners who are relatives, witnesses who appear across multiple family transactions, and property descriptions that can be matched to historical maps. If your ancestor owned or farmed land in Elkhart County, the recorder's books are a natural starting point.
The Indiana Archives and Records Administration at (317) 591-5220 or arc@iara.in.gov holds older records transferred from Indiana county offices. Their online catalog at researchIndiana.iara.in.gov is searchable before you visit. Older Elkhart County land and court records may be held at IARA if they were retired from local storage. The agency's microfilming standards ensure records remain readable for up to 500 years.
Indiana State Library and State Resources
The Indiana State Library at 315 West Ohio Street in Indianapolis holds family histories, cemetery transcriptions, and record indexes covering Elkhart County. The reference desk is at 317-232-3689. The Indiana County Research Guides page has a guide for Elkhart County listing available records and their locations. The library is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Indiana County Research Guides page provides a structured overview of what genealogy sources exist for Elkhart County and how to access each one. Indiana County Research Guides
The Elkhart County guide lists vital records, court records, land records, and library sources with date ranges and contact information for each.
Additional Research Sources
The Indiana Historical Society at (317) 232-1882 publishes research indexes and family history guides covering Elkhart County. FamilySearch provides free access to Indiana census records and vital record indexes. Elkhart County's Amish and Mennonite communities have also been well-documented by specialized genealogical organizations, so searching those organizations' databases can be useful for families from those communities.
The Indiana Genealogical Society at indgensoc.org maintains county-level resource pages and can connect you with specialists in Elkhart County genealogy. Combining records from the county health department (574-523-2283), the clerk (574-523-2371), the Elkhart Public Library Indiana Room, and state-level resources will give you the most complete picture of an Elkhart County family's history.
VitalChek provides online ordering for Indiana vital records, including those from Elkhart County, when you cannot visit the local health office in person. VitalChek online vital records ordering
Orders are fulfilled by the Indiana Department of Health and can be used for genealogy research on Elkhart County ancestors who meet the age and status requirements.
Cities in Elkhart County
Elkhart County has two qualifying cities. Goshen is the county seat, and Elkhart is the county's largest city. Both have dedicated pages with additional information.
Nearby Counties
These counties border Elkhart County in northern Indiana. If an ancestor lived near a county line, records may appear in neighboring courthouses.