What's New?A chronology of website changes . . . .

2023
July 29 Added Souvenir of Valparaiso Ind. (1894) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 23 Added SHERMAN to the Surnames webpage.
May 10 Added Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethlehem Church in Word and Picture, Chesterton, Indiana, 1879-1920 (1920), History of Salem Church (Presbyterian) in Porter County - North of Hebron, Indiana, 1844-1888 (1964), and Weaving the Past into the Future: Bicentennial Handbook of Portage Township Schools (1976) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
February 25 Added 1958 township plat maps to the Maps webpage.
January 1 Added the 1927 History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana: Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and LaPorte and the complete set of The Ogden Dunes Sandpiper newsletter (1938-1970) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
2022
December 19 Added the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's Porter County Interim Report: Indiana Historic Sites and Structure Inventory, published July 1991, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
December 18 Added the Valparaiso Board of Realtors Valparaiso, Indiana pictorial viewbook, published circa 1976, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
November 19 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Lost Porter County: Crisman Cemetery.
September 17 Added BASKOSKI to the list of burials on the Bedenkop/Burdick Cemetery webpage.
March 16 Added SHERMAN to the Surnames webpage.
January 23 Added Elisha Atkins, Abram Hicks, and Peleg Kettle to the list of Porter County veterans of the War of 1812 on the Military Service webpage.
2021
November 28 Added additional information on the now obliterated Crisman Cemetery.
November 5 Added BALL to the Surnames webpage.
August 10 Added Thomas Tidball to the list of Porter County veterans of the War of 1812 on the Military Service webpage.
May 31 Added BROBECK, BRAUBACH, EICHENSEHER, HESS, JOHNSON, KALIHER, KELIHER, REASON, RUHSEN, SCOTT, STRANGEWAY, and WITHOF to the Surnames webpage.
May 9 Added 1929 township plat maps and 1982 township plat maps to the Maps webpage.
January 19 Added the Joseph Decker's 1911 Souvenir Book of Valparaiso, Indiana, pictorial viewbook to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
January 1 Added A. H. Reading's 1905 Valparaiso: The City of Homes, Schools & Churches pictorial viewbook to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
2020
December 6 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Civil War's Final Battle and Captain Frederic F. B. Coffin.
September 17 Added Raymond Williams to the enumeration of Porter County soldiers that served in the War of 1812.
September 1 Added the Porter County History published in the May 18, 1876, issue of the Porter County Vidette to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
August 7 Added the 142 page inventory of the Porter County archives compiled by the Works Progress Administration's Historical Records Survey in 1937 to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 24 Added the nearly 1,200 pages generated by the Works Progress Administration's Indiana Writers' Project for Porter County, Indiana, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Porter County's Muckraker: Samuel Sidney McClure.
June 14 Created Westchester Township Beach Burial Cemetery webpage.
June 11 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Lost Porter County: Hickory Point.
February 29 Added the Souvenir of Valparaiso University photograph booklet to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
February 9 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Valparaiso Temprance Crusade of 1874.
January 19 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the History of Porter County Post Offices.
2019
December 23 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Lost Community of Tassinong.
December 22 Added Bumstead's 1905 Valparaiso City and Porter County Business Directory to the Miscellaneous Items and References webpages.
July 23 Added 1947 Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce promotional flyer to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 18 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Unsolved Murder of Wayne Hale in 1905.
June 15 Added Hubert M. Skinner's 1876 History of Valparaiso to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
2018
November 18 Added photographs and burial cards to the enumeration of World War I casualties from Porter County. Numerous additions to the Photograhs & Historical Images webpage.
April 21 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about The Great Chesterton Earthquake of 1899.
March 26 Added Henry Hochbaum to the enumeration of World War I casualties from Porter County.
March 17 Added the Valparaiso Railroad and General Information Guide (December 1914) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
March 13 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Lost Community of Lansing.
February 28 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Adolphus G. Hardesty, author of the first comprehensive history of Porter County, Indiana.
January 25 Added Northern Indiana Normal School & Business Institute notice (1882) and Bethlehem Steel's Sand Creek Development Plans (1970) to the Miscellaneous Items and References webpages.
January 8 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Porter County's Revolutionary War veterans.
2017
December 9 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Lake Shore Wreck at Shadyside Crossing in 1909.
December 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Chicago & Atlantic Railway Wreck at Sandy Hook in 1887.
November 12 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Woodville Train Wreck of 1906.
November 8 Added the McGill Manufacturing Company's 1910 Crescent Specialties Catalog to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
November 1 Added The Old Kankakee:The Kankakee Basin Plan (1942) booklet to the Miscellaneous Items and References webpages.
October 26 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the lost communities of Coburg and Steamburg.
August 10 Added the Trinity Lutheran Church, Valparaiso (1980) booklet to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 30 Updated the William Lee memorial on the the Vietnam War Casualties webpage.
June 23 Added SCHNEIDER to the Surnames webpage.
June 5 Added DODD, JARDINE, and JORDAN to the Surnames webpage.
May 23 Added the History of the Northwest Indiana Dental Society, 1916-1950 booklet to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
May 17 Added information concerning Hyde Cemetery and Old Widow Bonesteel's Cemetery in Pleasant Township to the Cemeteries webpage.
May 13 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the honey industry of Porter County.
April 29 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the early photographers of Porter County.
April 7 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the life of Civil War Major General Robert Alexander Cameron.
March 27 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the loam industry in Porter County.
March 16 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the life of Civil War Colonel Gilbert Ashville Pierce.
February 22 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the founding of Portersville, Indiana, and its renaming to Valparaiso.
February 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the life of Civil War Colonel Isaac C. B. Suman.
January 19 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the lost community of Fillmore located in Portage Township, Porter County, Indiana.
January 2 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about City West, a community established in Porter County to rival Chicago as a trade center for Lake Michigan and the Midwest.
2016
December 28 Added 1837 map and survey report of City West prepared by the United States Department of War to determine the feasibility of constructing a harbor to the Maps webpage.
December 3 Added KOSELKE, VOLK, and YANKE to the Surnames webpage.

Added township plat maps published in 1941 and 1948 to the Maps webpage.
November 22 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the origins of Hoosier and its relationship to Hoosier's Nest inn located in Union Township, Porter County, Indiana.
November 15 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Essex Township, which not longer exists.
November 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about Quakerdom, Porter County's Quaker settlement.
October 17 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog providing a biographical overview of Charles Osborn, Father of Abolitionists. Osborn is buried in Quakerdom Cemetery in Jackson Township.
September 19 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the history of the Porter County Home, also known as the Porter County Asylum and Porter County Poor Farm.
August 23 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the shooting of Walter Bradt by Dayton Clark in 1883 at Furnessville.
July 18 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the Civil War. In particaulr, the Memorial Opera House and  Porter County's Bixby Boys.
July 8 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the murder of Josephine Desiderio.
July 6 Added an Indiana Dunes State Park brochure to the Miscellaneous webpage.
June 25 Added the 1966 Porter County Sheriff Mounted Posse Open Championship Rodeo souvenir booklet to the Miscellaneous webpage.
June 24 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the life and crimes of Catherine Cassler.
May 26 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the history of Sunset Hill Farm and Colonle Robert Heffron Murray.
April 20 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the Hebron-Kouts tornado of 1917.
April 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog concerning the murder of Susie Beck by William West.
March 14 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog about the history of Bailly Cemetery.
March 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding railroad wrecks and accidents in Porter County.
February 16 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the 1921 Porter train disaster that killed 37.
February 8 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding Mineral Spring Spas and Resorts in Westchester Township.
January 18 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding place names and the Joy's Run incident of 1874.
January 15 Added COLE and MARQUART to the Surnames webpage.
January 7 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding an unsolved murder in Tassinong in the 1870s.
2015
December 30 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding Schrock Cemetery and the construction of the Indiana Toll Road.
December 22 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding Littleville, a miniature town tourist attraction in Chesterton.
December 10 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the history of Dunn's Bridge spanning the Kankakee River.
November 26 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding Native American mounds and burial grounds in Porter County.
November 8 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding thoroughbred horse racing at Mineral Springs.
November 7 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the Porter brickyard fire of 1904.
November 5 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding St. Mary's Catholic Church in Kouts.
November 4 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the Long-Page murders of 1867.
November 3 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the world featherweight boxing match that took place in Kouts on March 31, 1889.
November 2 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the murder of Will Tratebas by Alonzo Powers in Chesterton on August 15, 1895.
November 1 Posted article on Porter County's Past blog regarding the murder of John Pelton by Francis Staves and Staves' resulting public execution in Valparaiso on June 29, 1838.
July 21 Added the Valparaiso, Indiana, issue of Headlight: Sights and Scenes Along the Grand Trunk Railway, published in 1898, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. In the 1890s, the Grand Trunk Railway published monthly issues focusing on towns and cities that their rail line traversed. This issue contains a wealth of information concerning Valparaiso, its business, institutions, organizations, and people.
July 19 Added issues from two publications created and distributed by Camp Calumet (Company 1583) of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was located in Valparaiso.
July 17 Added the August 6, 1898, issue of The College Current to the Miscellaneous webpage. This was a souvenir issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Northern Indiana Normal School, predecessor of Valparaiso University.
July 10 Added 1979 township plat maps to the Maps webpage.
July 2 Added three photographic images to  the James/Schrock Cemetery history webpage.
June 28 Updated numerous cemetery pages with additional historical information. Added additional burial site information to the Native American Burial Grounds webpage. Since last update, approximately 25 images have been added to the Photographs & Historical Images webpage.
April 11 Added FREER to the Surnames webpage.
March 11 Added FREY, FRY, FRYE and SWENEY to the Surnames webpage. Added dozen of images to the Photographs & Historical Images webpage. Updated numerous cemetery pages with historical information.
February 28 Added 1948 plat map of Ogden Dunes to the Maps webpage.
2014
December 13 Added The Central Card and Penmen Supply Company illustrated catalog published in the 1880s to the Miscellaneous webpage.
December 2 Added 1928 township plat maps to the Maps webpage.
October 27 Added a Porter County Map published by Valparaiso National Bank and First Trust Company prior to January 1932 to the Maps webpage.
September 20 Numerous minor additions and corrections to various databases on the website have been made over the past several months, as well as the addition of several dozen images to the Photographs and Historical Images section of the website. Added Enchanted Forest Family Theme Park Auction Brochure (1991) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
May 31 Added souvenir program from the Valparaiso Centennial (1966) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
May 17 Added McNEICE and McNIECE to the Surnames webpage. Added dozen of images to the Photographs & Historical Images webpage.
January 1 Added township maps covering Porter County based on United States General Land Office surveys commissioned and completed between 1833 and 1836 to the Maps webpage.
2013
December 10 Completed a comprehensive update to burial information for Kimball Cemetery and Dillingham Cemetery, both cemeteries located in Liberty Township. Added a plat map for Kimball Cemetery.
September 8 Added World War II United States Army enlistment data for 1,496 individuals claiming Porter County as their county of residence to the Military Service webpage.
September 7 Added Solon Robinson's 1838 descriptive map of unsold lands, depicting Lake County and the far western portion of Porter County, and E. P. Abbot's 1855 sectional map of Porter County to the Maps webpage.
September 1 Added souvenir program from Valparaiso's Quasquicentennial (1991) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
August 26 Updated enumeration of Porter County veterans serving in the Mexican War to include detailed enlistment and discharge information to the Military Service webpage.
August 21 Added O'BRIEN to the Surnames webpage.

Added Bull Transcription of Kimball Cemetery Inscriptions to the Kimball Cemetery enumeration webpage.
August 20 Added souvenir programs from Kouts' St. Paul Lutheran Church 75th Anniversary (1955) and Kouts' St. Paul Church 100th Anniversary (1980) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
July 28 Corrections and additions to numerous existing databases have been made over the past two months, as well as the addition of approximately 30 images.
May 13 Added links to the Porter County Public Library systems databases for marriages (1921-1953), divorce cases (1908-1963), guardianship cases (1914-1963), and probate cases (1914-1963).
March 12 Added 1974 township plat maps to the Maps webpage.
February 28 Added an enumeration of 1,004 Porter County veterans of World War I listed in Cannon, Loring, and Robb's History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana, which was published in 1927, to the Military Service webpage.
January 18 Added recorded plats of Beverly Shores, Boone Grove, Burdick, City West, Coburg, Fairview, Hurlburt, Lakewood, McCool, Prattville, Riverside, Riverview, Roosevelt, Suman, Tassinong, Tremont, Valparaiso, and Wheeler  to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
January 6 Added an enumeration of Union veterans of the Civil War listed in membership applications and muster rolls for the Chaplain Brown Post No. 106 of the Grand Army of the Republic located in Valparaiso to the Military Service webpage.
January 3 Added numerous sources of information concerning Porter County to the to References webpage.
January 1 Added two articles to the Miscellaneous Items webpage published in the mid-1950s by Alfred H. Meyer, a former professor at Valparaiso University, concerning the settlement patterns of the Calumet Region - including Porter County. The first article, published in September 1954, covers the settlement patterns of the Calumet Region by the Pottawatomie Indians and fur traders (pre-1830). The second article, published in September 1956, details the settlement patterns of the Calumet Region by pioneer settlers (post-1830).
2012
December 2 Added LINK to the Surnames webpage.
November 24 Added DONAHUE, GANNON, HANNON, KELLY, and O'DONAHUE to the Surnames webpage.
September 26 Added Trails in Indiana Dunes State Park (undated, circa 1930s) to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
September 16 Added all four issues of The Country Hearth Journal: The Journal of Northwest Indiana, published in 1993, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Only four issues of The Country Hearth Journal were published before the journal discontinued operations. Added all four issues of Shadbonna: An Historical Journal of Northwest Indiana, published in 1998, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Only four issues of Shadbonna were published before the journal discontinued operations.
June 17 Added plat map of Valparaiso from the Valparaiso City Directory, 1893 to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
June 16 Added The Popping Corn Book: Orville Redenbacher's Authorized and Complete Popcorn Lover's Guide (1975) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
May 24 Added BORG to the Surnames webpage.
May 4 Added Announcement of Dodge's Telegraph, Railway Accounting and Radio (Wireless) Institute (1926), Descriptive Map of the Famous Dunes of Indiana (1927), Indiana Dunes State Park: A History and Description (1930), Trails in Indiana Dunes State Park (1932), Trinity Lutheran Church 25th Anniversary (1959), The Guide to Valparaiso (1971), and How We (Valparaiso) Got Our Name (1999) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Added 1927 and 1932 trail maps of the Indiana Dunes to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
May 2 Added souvenir program from Porter County's Sesquicentennial (1986) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
April 30 Added a 1990 plat map of Hebron from the town's charter centennial souvenir program to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
April 29 Added A Quarter Past One: 125th Anniversary, Kouts, Indiana (1990) and Charter Centennial: Hebron, Indiana, 1890-1990 (1990) souvenir programs to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
April 28 Added Kouts Is Five In Score -- Ready For A Hundred More: Kouts Centennial (1965) souvenir program to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Added a 1965 plat map of Kouts from this souvenir program to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
April 24 Added souvenir program from The Dunes Under Four Flags: An Historical Pageant of the Dunes of Indiana (1917) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
April 23 Added Chesterton Retail Merchants' Directory (1949) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Added a 1947 plat map of Chesterton from the 1949 Chesterton Retail Merchant's Directory to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
April 22 Added souvenir program from Popcorn Festival: Orville Redenbacher Recognition Day (1979) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
April 21 Added souvenir programs from Chesterton Centennial (1952) and A Photographic History of Valparaiso (1976) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
April 20 Added transcription of Mabel Benney's Brief History of Porter County, published in 1936 as part of the Porter County centennial celebration, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Also added souvenir programs from Porter County's Celebration of Indiana's Centennial (1916), Porter County Centennial (1936), and the Valparaiso Woman's Club 50th Anniversary (1945) to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. Added a transcription of Theodore Stephen's Bailly Cemetery - Roman Style, published in 1956, recounting his employment redesigning Bailly Cemetery in 1914.
April 15 Added complete transcription of Timothy H. Ball's 570 page Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900 to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. This expansive history of Northwest Indiana includes significant information concerning Porter County and was published in 1900.
March 20 Added plat maps of Chesterton, Hebron, and Valparaiso from the 1876 book Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Indiana to the City and Village Plat Maps webpage.
March 4 Added 82 plat maps of towns, villages, and additions within Porter County to the Maps webpage. Plat maps date as early as 1833.
February 26 Added a link to the Indiana Historical Aerial Photo Index to the Maps webpage. Aerial photographs for Porter County are available for the years of 1939, 1954, 1958, 1965, and 1973.
February 10 Consolidated existing information on website concerning Native American burial grounds located in Porter County, as well as added new information.
February 7 Added complete transcription of the Porter County portion of Weston A. Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard's 230 page Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. This history of Porter County was published in 1882.
January 15 Added COOLEY to the Surnames webpage.

January 2
Added burial and historical information for the obliterated Clifford Cemetery located in Center Township.
2011
November 8 Added transcriptions of two very detailed National Park Service reports concerning the history of Bailly Cemetery.
November 4 Added complete transcription of the Lewis Publishing Company's 357 page History of Porter County, Indiana, Volume I, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. This history of Porter County was published in 1912.
October 4 Added plat maps for each township displaying original land patentees, as recorded by the General Land Office, to the Maps webpage. These maps provide information for more than 2,600 land patents in Porter County.
October2 Added James Butz and Daane Adam DeBoer to the list of War in Afghanistan casualties from Porter County.
September 28 Added 23 individuals to the World War II casualties enumeration webpage. The following individuals were added to the enumeration: Arthur I. Berkovitz, Howard Burns, Elton A. Busse, John (Jack) P. Farrington, Donald Joseph Finneran, Walter Fletcher, Lewis F. Henry, Eugene Ray Hesselgrave, James Clancy Hollett, Albert G. Janowski, Robert A. Jensen, Robert Gordon Johnson, Robert W. Kemp, Wallace V. Koselke, Henry Leo Moeller, Gilbert John Neuner, Damon E. Sanders, Louis Dale Schlobohm, Raymond J. Small, Clyde L. Stanley, James A. Wynkoop, Richard Lee Yaeger, and Elmer E. Zacker.
August 28 Added Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Chesterton, Hebron, Porter, and Valparaiso to the Maps webpage.
August 13 The credit ratings of Porter County residents as reported in 1916 in Merchants Rating and Credit Association: Local Credit Reports has been added to the Miscellaneous Items webpage. This database lists 11,364 individuals residing in Lake County and Porter County, as well as their addresses and credit ratings.
June 3 Added 917 records from the Indiana Adjutant General's List of Porter County Civil War Soldiers. This information was compiled and contributed by David Meyer.
March 5 Added ARNOLD to the Surnames webpage.
2010
December 6 A land patent index for all land located within the boundaries of Porter County has been added to the Maps webpage.
November 29 Added burial information for Robbins Cemetery.
November 28 Added burial records for Augsburg Cemetery, Burstrom Cemetery and Furnessville Cemetery.
November 26 Updated the list of Porter County veterans serving in World War I on to the Military Service webpage.
November 24 Added burial records for Campbell Cemetery.
November 23 Added burial information for Bates Cemetery, Betholene Cemetery, Brough/Five Pines Cemetery, Cornell Cemetery, Crisman Cemetery, Dunn Cemetery, James/Schrock Cemetery, Lake Eliza Cemetery, Seven Dolors Shrine/Friar's Cemetery, Sheffield Cemetery, Smith Cemetery (Boone Township), Smith Cemetery (Porter Township), and Wolf Cemetery.
November 20 Added burial records for Clifford/Old Catholic Cemetery, Kinne No. 1/Flint Lake Cemetery, Kinne No. 2 Cemetery, and Kinne No. 3 Cemetery.
November 15 Added burial information for Bailly Cemetery.
November 12 Added An Archeological Overview and Assessment of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, to the Miscellaneous webpage.
November 10 Added burial information for Adams Cemetery.
November 5 Added burial records for Agnew Cemetery, Carter Cemetery, Lansing/Jackson Center Cemetery, Link Cemetery, Noble Cemetery, Paine Cemetery, Quakerdom/Barnard Cemetery, Stoner Cemetery, Suman Cemetery, Tassinong Cemetery, Warner Cemetery, and White Cemetery.
October 31 Added burial information for Bedenkop/Burdick Cemetery, Mosier/Betz Cemetery, and Pine Township Beach Burials.
October 28 Added burial records for Blachly Cemetery and Janes Cemetery.
October 25 Added burial information for Hoosier Nest Cemetery, Leonard Family Cemetery, and an Unnamed Union Township Cemetery.
October 24 Added burial records for Cadwell Cemetery, Congdon/Sauk Trail Cemetery, Sedley Cemetery, Strong Cemetery, and Union Center Cemetery.
May 14 Several additions and corrections were made in the Essex Cemetery (Salem-Freidhoff Cemetery) burial list.
January 22 Approximately 300 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed biographies have been added to the website. A total of more than 1,300 Porter County biographies are now available.
2009
December 2 Added DISNMORE to the Surnames webpage.
November 29 Added a list of Liberty Center High School Alumni from 1914 through 1929 to the Miscellaneous webpage.
November 23 Added 2,008 aerial images from John Drury's book This Is Porter County.
November 16 Added complete scans of high school annuals for Valparaiso High School for the years of 1907, 1909, 1911, 1920, and 1923 to the Miscellaneous webpage. Each annual is searchable using Adobe Acrobat Reader's pdf search feature.

Added city and county directories for 1885, 1893, and 1902 to the Miscellaneous webpage. Each directory is searchable using Adobe Acrobat Reader's pdf search feature.
November 8 Added a list of Crisman High School Alumni (Portage Township) from 1918 through 1930 to the Miscellaneous webpage.
October 5 Added list of Porter County veterans that served in the Seminole War of 1835-1842 to the Military Service webpage.
September 11 Completed the transcription of the August 18, 1936, edition of The Vidette-Messenger. This edition included the Porter County Centennial, 1836-1936, Special Edition, a 94-page compendium of Porter County history that included 174 articles.
August 29 Added list of Porter County veterans that served in the Mexican Expedition of 1916-1917 in the pursuit of Pancho Villa to the Military Service webpage.
August 28 Added list of Porter County veterans that perished in World War II to the Military Service webpage.
August 14 Added Pioneer Life and Impressions written by Mrs. Isabel McKnight, circa 1917, discussing various people and places in Porter County to the Miscellaneous webpage.

Added numerous articles from the Porter County Centennial edition of The Vidette-Messenger newspaper, published on August 18, 1936, to the Miscellaneous webpage.

Added list of Porter County veterans that perished in the Korean War to the Military Service webpage. Also added remembrance page for Staff Sergeant James P. Thorstad, who perished in the 1983 bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks in Lebanon.
August 11 Added an 1878 History of Porter County written by Hubert M. Skinner.
August 7 Lists of Porter County veterans serving in the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Black Hawk War, as well as a list of casualties of the Iraq War and the Occupation of Iraq have been added to the Military Service webpage.
August 3 Lists of Porter County veterans serving in the Mexican War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and the Vietnam War have been added to the Military Service webpage.
June 23 Added BROBECK, EICHENSEHER, EICHENSEHR, JOHNSON, KELEHER, KELLIHER, REASON, RIESSEN, RUHSEN, RUSHEN, SCOTT, STRANGEWAY, and WHITHOF to the Surnames webpage.
June 20 A brief history of the Porter County school system, written in 1917 by Fred H. Cole, Superintendent of Porter County Schools, has been added to the Miscellaneous webpage.
June 14 Added BIGELOW to the Surnames webpage.
May 17 Added the 1893 Valparaiso City Directory to the Miscellaneous webpage.
April 25 An article published in 1919 titled Fishing in a Mid-West College Town has been added to the Miscellaneous webpage.
April 10 Added CLIFFORD, McGILLICUDDY, and THUNE to the Surnames webpage.
March 28 We have completed the process of adding nearly 2,300 unique images to the Photographs & Historical Images webpage.
March 20 Added a link to Porter County GIS to the Maps webpage. This mapping service is provided to the general public by the Porter County GIS Office, a unit of the Porter County Auditor's Department.
March 13 We have added a complete transcription of a Vidette-Messenger newspaper article concerning the memories of Broncho John H. Sullivan published in 1935.
March 6 Added indexes for the Eight Square Cemetery in Pine Township and the Essex Cemetery (Salem-Friedhoff Cemetery) in Washington Township to the Porter County Cemetery Index webpage. Special thanks is extended to Deanna West for providing these indexes for use on the Porter County GenWeb.
March 5 We have added a complete transcription of a book written in 1896 by Broncho John H. Sullivan, one of Valparaiso's most colorful citizens, titled Life and Adventures of Broncho John: His First Trip Up the Trail.
February 6 We have started the process of adding approximately 2,200 unique images to the Photographs & Historical Images webpage.
January 31 More than 300 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed biographies have been added to the website.
January 25 Added contemporary newspaper articles concerning the Woodville Train Wreck of 1906 that killed between 55 and 61 individuals.

Added Liberty Township Newspaper Transcriptions, 1884-1900, to the website.
January 24 Added indexes to all Liberty Township cemeteries to the website.
January 18 Added an article to website titled Dream Cities of The Calumet written by John O. Bowers and published in 1929.

Added an essay to the website titled Villages and Towns of Porter written by Timothy H. Ball and published in 1900.

Added railroad right-of-way plat maps for Porter County to the website.
January 17 Added a 1956 History of Porter County by John Drury to the website.
January 15 Added an 1876 History of Porter County written by A. G. Hardesty and a 1923 History of Porter County written by Deborah H. Shults-Gay.
January 12 Added a Brief History of Porter County in the Civil War to the website.
January 11 Added 1,103 records from the Hardesty List of Porter County Civil War Soldiers.
January 9 Added 1876 township plat maps and 1895 township plat maps.

Added AUSTIN, EDWARDS, GARRISON, GORDON, LUDINGTON, and WATTS to the Surnames webpage.
January 8 Added 1906 township plat maps and 1921 township plat maps.
January 7 Added 1973 township plat maps and 1976 township plat maps, and 1988 township plat maps.
January 6 Added 1969 township plat maps.
January 5 Added USGS topographical maps covering the entire area of Porter County, as well as 1938 township plat maps.
January 4 Added pdf files of the books Some Bible Records in Porter County, Indiana, and Index to Part I of Counties Lake and Porter, Indiana (1882) published by the William Henry Harrison Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to the Miscellaneous Items webpage.
January 2 An additional 220 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed biographies have been added to the website, bringing the total to more than 770. Many more additions are forthcoming.
2008
December 15 An additional 150 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed biographies have been added to the website. Many more additions are forthcoming.
December 8 More than 400 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed biographies have been added to the website.
December 7 More than 6,700 fully transcribed, cited, and indexed Porter County obituaries and death notices were added to the website.
December 6 Completed the addition of Will and Probate abstracts, including an index, from Porter County Will Books A and B to the website.
November 29 Added Find A Grave search feature for Porter County cemeteries to the Cemeteries webpage.
November 28 Introduced redesigned website.

 

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