(This page's most recent update is
July 2024)
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Institutional records are another class of collections that should be part of one’s genealogy research repertoire. Although most of your ancestors may not have spent time in an institution, I’ll bet that almost every family tree has several that have. So they are worth your effort to research.
Here are a few good primers for searching institutional records:
- FamilySearch – Institution and School Records
- Finding Your Ancestors in Poor House or Poor Farm Records
- Researching Ancestors in Asylums
What kind of institutions and types of records can we discover?
- Poorhouse
- Poor Farm
- Orphanage
- Orphan Train
- Mental Hospital
- Workhouse
- Almshouse
- Institutional School
- Sanitarium
- Asylums
- Correctional institutions
Acquiring records from each of these types of institutions may be difficult because of privacy concerns, but they are worth the effort.
Below you will find free online institutional records you can use to help you discover more about your relatives who have spent time in an institution.
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Colorado Online Institutional Records
- Arapahoe County, 1900 Mother & Children’s Home
- Arapahoe County, 1900 Mount St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum
- Arapahoe County, 1900 St. Clare’s Orphanage
- Boulder County, Poor Farm Cemetery
- Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients E-G
- Colorado, Arapahoe County Poor House 1880 Mortality Census
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients A-B
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients C-D
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients H-J
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients K-L
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients M-N
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients O-R
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients S
- Colorado, Colorado State Hospital for the Insane, 1930 Index of Patients T-Z
- Colorado, Colorado State Penitentiary Prisoner Index 1871 – 1973
- Colorado, Colorado State Penitentiary, 1930 Index of Prisoners Surnames A – L
- Colorado, Colorado State Penitentiary, 1930 Index of Prisoners Surnames Surnames L – Z
- Colorado, Colorado State Reformatory 1930 Index of Prisoner
- Colorado, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, Prisoners, Insane, In Hospitals, 1917-1918
- Elbert County, Pauper Record, V. 1, 1907-1934
- Elbert County, Register of the Poor, V. 1, 1911-1924
- Kit Carson County, Colorado State Penitentiary Index 1871 – 1973
- Pitkin County, Record of the County Poor, 1892-1906, 1925-1936
- Pueblo County, Pueblo County Jail 1930 Index of Prisoners.
- Pueblo, Sacred Heart Orphanage, Records
- Washington County, Record of the County Poor, 1896-1897
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!