Guide to Archival Holdings at the National Archives Southwest Region (Fort Worth)
- Introduction
- Alphabetical List of Record Groups
- Numerical List of Record Groups
- Record Groups 4 through 49
- Record Groups 57 through 96
- Record Groups 103 through 196
- Record Groups 202 through 295
- Record Groups 304 through 452
Record Group 4
Records of the U.S. Food Administration
Administrative History
The U.S. Food Administration was created by an Executive order of August
10, 1917, to assure the supply, distribution, and conservation of foods
during World War I; facilitate the movement of foods and prevent monopolies
and hoarding; and maintain governmental control over foods chiefly by means
of voluntary agreements and a licensing system. Federal food administrators
were appointed for each State to implement the Administration's programs.
After November 11, 1918, the Administration was gradually dismantled and
its rules and regulations revoked. An Executive order of August 21, 1920,
terminated all branches of the Food Administration still in existence,
and the majority of its records were placed in the custody of the U.S.
Grain Corporation.
Dates: 1917-1919
Volume: 166 cubic feet
Records of the following:
For the most part the records concern complaints against individuals, local merchants, and restaurants for violations of rationing and other regulations, and document public attitudes toward U.S. participation in World War I and governmental control. They consist primarily of letters.
Finding Aids
- Handbook of Federal World War Agencies and Their Records, 1917-1921 (1943).
- Almon B. Wright, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the United States Food Administration, 1917-1920, Pt.1: The Headquarters Organization, PI 3 (1943).
Record Group 7
Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine
Administrative History
Entomological research and plant quarantine and control work being
done by various agencies were consolidated in the Bureau of Entomology
and Plant Quarantine, which was established within the Department of Agriculture
on July 1, 1934. The Bureau cooperated with the States in studying and
controlling insects to prevent plant diseases and enforced various quarantine
regulations. It was abolished in 1953 and its functions were transferred
to the Agricultural Research Service and the Forest Service.
Dates: 1922-1951
Volume: 9 cubic feet
Records of field stations and bureau headquarters. The records relate to controlling the pink bollworm and thurberia weevil in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, and to cooperative programs with Mexico. They include correspondence, narrative progress reports, statistical information, and technical reports. Nontextual records include maps showing areas of insect infestation.
Finding Aids
Harold T. Pinkett, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of
the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, PI 94 (1956).
Record Group 8
Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering
Administrative History
The Office of Experiment Stations of the Department of Agriculture
began irrigation investigations in 1898 and drainage investigations in
1903. In 1915, it was merged into the Office of Public Roads and Rural
Engineering, which was renamed the Bureau of Roads in 1918. In 1921, the
Bureau of Agricultural Engineering was established to consolidate all drainage,
irrigation, and rural engineering work. In 1931 the Division was given
Bureau status, and in 1938 it was merged with the Bureau of Chemistry and
Soils to form the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering.
Dates: 1911-1912
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot
Records of the Cypress Creek Drainage District, Arkansas. The records relate to supplies and to fiscal matters of R.D. Marsden, Office Engineer, and include correspondence, work reports, and forms.
Finding Aids
Entry 9 in Nathan Reingold, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the
Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering , PI 53 (1953).
Record Group 9
Records of the National Recovery Administration
Administrative History
The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was created by an Executive
order of June 16, 1933, to rehabilitate industry and trade in the United
States, expand employment, and improve labor conditions. The NRA drafted
codes of fair competition to govern industries and trades but most of these
were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. After this decision
NRA activities were confined to promoting industrial cooperation and preparing
a series of economic studies. On January 1, 1936, the NRA was terminated.
Most of its divisions were transferred to the Department of Commerce for
liquidation by April 1, 1936.
Dates: 1934-1936
Volume: 12 cubic feet
Records of NRA's Region VIII (Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas). The records document enforcement policy and procedures and personnel administration, and include administrative and general subject files, reports, and legal files.
Finding Aids
Entries 571-575 in Homer Calkin, Meyer Fishbein, and Leo Pascal, comps.,
Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National Recovery Administration
, PI 44 (1952).
Record Group 15
Records of the Veterans Administration
Administrative History
The present Veterans Administration (VA) is the result of policies
and programs that date back to the American Revolution. In 1789, the First
Congress enacted legislation to continue paying pensions provided in acts
of the Continental Congress. An act of August 9, 1921, created the Veterans'
Bureau which became part of the Veterans Administration established by
an Executive order of July 20, 1930.
Records Description
Dates: 1918-1926
Volume: 22 cubic feet
Records of District Office 6 (New Orleans) and District Office
14 (Dallas) of the Rehabilitation Division, 1918-1925. The records document
training and employment of disabled veterans in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Records of the Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and New Orleans Regional Offices of the Rehabilitation Division, 1925-1926. The records document training of disabled veterans and include correspondence, reports, and rosters.
Finding Aids
Entry 16 in Preliminary Checklist of the General Administrative
Files of the Rehabilitation Division, PC 15 (1944).
Record Group 16
Records of the Secretary of Agriculture
Administrative History
The Department of Agriculture was established by an act of May 15,
1862, and became an executive department under a Secretary in 1889. Its
functional responsibilities have increased throughout its existence and
now include agricultural adjustment, conservation, education, marketing,
production, regulation, research, rural development, and surplus disposal.
Dates: 1959-1966
Volume: 22 cubic feet
Records of the regional office of the general counsel, Temple, Texas. The records relate to investigations of cotton and rice allotments made to Billie Sol Estes and Bobby Frank Estes. Included are affidavits, copies of warranty deeds and leases, correspondence, exhibits, forms for marketing quotas, and investigative reports.
Finding Aids
- List of folder titles.
- Helen Finneran Ulibarri, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, PI 191 (1979).
Record Group 18
Records of the Army Air Forces
Administrative History
The Army Air Forces (AAF) originated August 1, 1907, as the Aeronautical
Division in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. After various reorganizations
and name changes, the Army Air Forces was established on March 9, 1942,
under the Secretary of War and the War Department General Staff.
Dates: 1917-1939
Volume: 291 cubic feet
Records of the following field installations:
- Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana;
- Barron Field, Everman, Texas;
- Call Field, Wichita Falls, Texas;
- Carruthers Field, Benbrook, Texas;
- Eberts Field, Lonoke, Arkansas;
- Ellington Field, Houston, Texas;
- Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, Louisiana;
- Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas;
- Love Field, Dallas, Texas;
- Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas.
The records relate primarily to maintenance of aircraft and equipment, preparation and distribution of technical orders and other instructions, training of pilots and civilian employees, and general administration of units. Included are orders, reports, and correspondence.
Finding Aids
- Maizie H. Johnson, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Textual Records of the Army Air Forces, NM 53 (1965).
- Sarah D. Powell and Maizie H. Johnson, comps., Supplement to Preliminary Inventory NM 53, Textual Records of the Army Air Force, NM 90 (1967).
Record Group 21
Records of the District Courts of the United States
Administrative History
U.S. district and circuit courts were created by the Judiciary Act
of September 24, 1789. The jurisdiction and powers of these Federal courts
have varied with subsequent legislation, but district courts generally
have had original jurisdiction in admiralty and bankruptcy cases, suits
for penalties or seizures under Federal laws, noncapital criminal proceedings,
and suits exceeding $100 in value in which the United States was the plaintiff.
The circuit courts heard appeals from the district courts and had original
jurisdiction over actions involving aliens or citizens of different States
and law and equity suits where the matter in dispute exceeded $500. In
1891 the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit courts was transferred to
the newly created circuit courts of appeals (see RG 276). The Judiciary
Act of 1911 abolished the circuit courts and provided for the transfer
of their records and remaining jurisdiction to the district courts.
Most States initially had one district and one circuit court with additional districts created as the business of the courts increased. Many of the districts were divided into divisions with the court holding session in various cities within the district. In 1812, circuit courts were authorized to appoint U.S. commissioners to assist in taking of bail and affidavits. Commissioners' functions were expanded by subsequent legislation and court rules, and their powers have included authority to issue arrest warrants, examine persons charged with offenses against Federal laws, initiate actions in admiralty matters, and institute proceedings for violation of civil rights legislation.
Territorial district courts generally were established by the organic act that created the territory and had jurisdiction over Federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy actions as well as civil and criminal jurisdiction similar to that of State courts. Records created by a territorial court acting in its capacity as a Federal court often became the property of the Federal district court upon statehood.
Records DescriptionDates: 1806-1994
Volume: 30,594 cubic feet
Records of the following district and circuit courts:
- Arkansas, Eastern District, 1865-1869.
- Arkansas, Western District, 1865-1990. Among the records are files of cases heard by "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker, who tried Belle Starr, the Daltons, and Wyatt Earp, and sentenced 96 men to the gallows, 1875-1896.
- Indian Territory, 1889-1907. The Federal court at Muskogee exercised many functions of a State or local court. Included are records concerning incorporations, probate, marriage, and naturalization, as well as criminal and civil cases.
- Louisiana, Eastern District, 1806-1982. Among the records are files of cases involving violations of slave importation acts; piracy (including the pirate Jean Lafitte); filibustering against Spanish-controlled territory in Cuba and Florida, 1830-1850; contested elections in the 1870's; and the Slaughter House Cases testing the 14th Amendment in the 1870's. Louisiana, Western District, 1832-1966. Included is a case relating to the car driven by outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow when they were killed by law enforcement officers in 1934.
- Louisiana, Middle District, 1971-1993. This district was created in 1971 with Baton Rouge as its headquarters. Prior to 1971, BatonRouge was a division in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
- Louisiana, Western District, 1832-1961.
- Oklahoma, Eastern District, 1907-1988. Among the records are files of cases involving Indian land ownership and revenue rights from oil production, 1900-1940's.
- Oklahoma, Western District, 1907-1956. Among the records are case files about the Green Corn Rebellion, involving draft evasion in World War I.
- Oklahoma, Northern District, 1925-1969.Among the records are murder cases named the "Osage Reign of Terror" by local newspapers. In the 1920s Ernest Burkhart and his uncle, William K. Hale, began murdering the relatives of Burkhart's Osage wife to consolidate her headrights to oil royalty payments.
- Texas, Eastern District, 1874-1968. Included are records of Confederate courts in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Austin and Galveston, Texas, and the provisional court at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1862-1865.
- Texas, Western District, 1851-1988. Among the records are files of cases that involve the smuggling of arms to Mexico, 1910-1916; author William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. O. Henry; bankruptcies filed under the acts of 1867; and deportation of Chinese immigrants.
- Texas, Northern District, 1879-1994. Among the records are files of cases involving fraud in oil production, including a case involving arctic explorer Frederick Cook and a case involving Henry O. Flipper, the first black army officer, and the use of Federal troops in 1880.
- Texas, Southern District, 1846-1988. Included are files of cases involving Spanish land grants, and smuggling arms and other goods during the Mexican civil war.
The records document the actions of Federal district and circuit courts, which have jurisdiction over naturalization, bankruptcy, civil (law, equity, and admiralty), and criminal cases. Among general topics covered are biography, civil rights, commerce and corporate history, demographics, genealogy, immigration and ethnic groups, the impact of Federal regulatory programs, judicial administration, labor relations and union activity, maritime history, and State and local political activity. Among specific topics covered are collection of debts, enforcement of contracts, claims for damages; counterfeiting, and smuggling or violations of customs regulations; European immigration and the exclusion and deportation of Chinese; evasion of import duties; the illegal sale or manufacturing of alcoholic beverages; infringement of patent or copyright; interstate transfer of stolen property; mutiny or murder on the high seas; prize condemnations; theft, assault, or murder on Federal property; and violations of Federal election laws and civil rights legislation, international agreements (such as the Migratory Bird Act); Selective Service regulations, and slave importation laws. References to some specific cases are noted above under the name of the court.
Records are primarily case files - papers in a specific case filed by attorneys or issued by the court, such as affidavits, complaints, depositions, indictments, judgments or final decrees, motions, petitions, subpoenas, and writs. Bankruptcy case files also contain petitions of creditors and schedules of assets and liabilities. Case files are arranged numerically by the docket number assigned when the case was filed. Documentary exhibits submitted as part of court proceedings usually were returned to the parties involved, but they are sometimes included in the case file. Transcripts are seldom part of the file.)
There are also docket books - a summary of proceedings in each case, including a brief abstract of motions and orders, a record of the fees collected, and a statement of the disposition of the case; minute books or journals - a daily chronological record of court proceedings, often including information about financial accounts and the collection of fees, lists of jury members, names of attorneys admitted to practice, and the text of orders appointing court officials; naturalization papers - declarations of intention, petitions for naturalization, depositions, and certificates of naturalization; order or judgment books - the text of each order or judgment and a record of the amount of any monetary judgment; record of proceedings (only for U.S. commissioners) - a printed form that gives the name of the defendant, and summaries of the nature of the charge, the actions taken, and the disposition of the case. Nontextual records include maps and photographs.
Finding Aids
Draft inventories for each court. Minute, docket, and order books often
have indexes to the names of the parties involved in the proceedings. There
is no cumulative index by subject, case name, or other access point. Records
for a case can usually be located by case number and name of the court.
The number sometimes can be determined from indexes in minute, docket,
or order books but these are not available for all courts. Additional information
may be available from the clerk of the court involved.
Related Microfilm Publications
M1082, Records of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Louisiana, 1806-1814;
M1115, Land Claims Case Files and Related
Records of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana,
1844-1880.
Record Group 22
Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Administrative History
The Fish and Wildlife Service was formed on June 30, 1940, by merging
the Bureau of Fisheries (established in 1903) with the Bureau of Biological
Survey (established in 1885). The service is responsible for administering
Federal laws for the control and conservation of fish, game, birds, and
other wildlife and administering national wildlife refuges.
Records Description
Dates: 1907-1973
Volume: 52 cubic feet
Records of Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma. The
records relate to indigenous plants and animals, including bison brought
from the New York Zoological Park for breeding in the bison's native habitat;
and mammals, birds, and plants found in the refuge. Included are biological
reports, correspondence, engineering records, lists, and public relations
and research files.
Records of the Albuquerque regional office, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 1957-1968. The records relate to research on fish conservation in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; the Green River, Utah; and Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. Included are field diaries, minutes of conferences, narrative reports, publications, technical reports, and studies. Nontextual records include photographs of activities at Fort Apache, Arizona.
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.
Record Group 24
Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel
Administrative History
The Bureau of Naval Personnel originated as the Bureau of Navigation,
established by an act of July 5, 1862. It is responsible for training and
educating officers and enlisted men. The Coast Signal Service was organized
within the Bureau in 1897. It cooperated with the Life Saving Service,
the Lighthouse Service, and the Weather Bureau in maintaining a lookout
for the approach of enemy vessels and in checking the movements of American
vessels. The Service was discontinued at the close of the Spanish-American
War.
Dates: 1898
Volume: 1 cubic foot
Records of the Headquarters Office of the Coast Signal Service relating to the Seventh District Office, New Orleans, Louisiana. The district included stations at Fort Morgan, Alabama; Galveston, Texas; and Port Eads, Louisiana. The records document routine business and administrative matters. They consist primarily of correspondence.
Finding Aids
Entry 440 in Virgil E. Baugh, Preliminary Inventory of the Records
of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, PI 123 (1960).
Record Group 25
Records of the National Labor Relations Board
Administrative History
The present National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
was created by the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act) of July
5, 1935. It was preceded by two earlier boards: the National Labor Board
(NLB), established August 5, 1933, and a first NLRB, established on June
19, 1934. As the functions of the NLB and the first NLRB were closely tied
to the mission of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), when the
NRA was declared unconstitutional on May 27, 1935, the first NLRB virtually
ceased to function.
The Wagner Act created the second (present) NLRB, which was to determine the unit of employees appropriate for collective bargaining, conduct elections for employee representatives, and force employers to end specified unfair labor practices in industries other than the railroads and, after 1936, the airlines. The functions of the NLRB have subsequently been modified by the War Labor Disputes Act of June 25, 1943, the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (the Taft-Hartley Act), and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (the Landrum-Griffin Act).
All three boards utilized a system of regional boards to deal with labor controversies in the field.
Records Description
Dates: 1933-1938
Volume: 3 cubic feet
Records of regional boards in Fort Worth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The records document cases received and settled, involving charges of unfair labor practices. Included are correspondence, minutes, regional board decisions, reports, and selected hearing files.
Finding AidsDraft inventory.
Record Group 26
Records of the U.S. Coast Guard
Administrative History
The U.S. Coast Guard was established in the Department of the Treasury
by an act of January 28, 1915, which consolidated that department's Revenue
Cutter and Lifesaving Services. The Coast Guard took over the administration
of lighthouses in 1939, and in 1942 assumed functions of the Bureau of
Marine Inspection and Navigation (see RG 41) relating to navigation and
inspection laws and to merchant marines. On April 1, 1967, the Coast Guard
became a part of the Department of Transportation and assumed responsibility
for functions transferred to it from the Bureau of Customs (see RG 36)
pertaining to the admeasurement and documentation of U.S. vessels.
Records Description
Dates: 1880-1981
Volume: 1,197 cubic feet
Records of Coast Guard cutters and some air stations, light
stations, supply depots, and support vessels. The records document daily
activities and vessel inspections of ships of U.S. registry and include
weather observations and watch officers' remarks. The records are logbooks.
- Beaumont, Texas, 1936-1943
- Brownsville, Texas, 1940-1975
- Corpus Christi, Texas, 1933-1962
- Galveston, Texas, 1935-1976
- Houston, Texas, 1928-1979
- Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1937-1977
- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1930-1976
- Port Arthur, Texas, 1920-1977
Records of lifesaving stations, 1880-1945. The records document daily activities. They are logbooks.
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.
Record Group 27
Records of the Weather Bureau
Administrative History
The Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress of October
1, 1890, in the Department of Agriculture. It took over the Weather Service
that had been established in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer of
the War Department in 1870. The Bureau was transferred to the Department
of Commerce in 1940. In 1965, the Bureau was consolidated with the Coast
and Geodetic Survey to form the Environmental Science Services Administration
(ESSA). When ESSA was abolished in 1970, the Weather Bureau, now renamed
the National Weather Service, was incorporated into the newly formed National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Dates: 1873-1892
Volume: 3 cubic feet
Records from
- Concho, Texas;
- Fort Gibson, Indian Territory;
- Grierson Springs, Texas.
The records include letters sent, 1873-1885; registers of letters received, 1873-1887; and station daily journals, 1877-1883.
Records of meteorological observations taken at Brownsville, Texas, 1889-1892. The records are bound in a single volume.
Finding Aids
Entries 36, 37, 67, and 77 in Helen T. Finneran, comp. Preliminary
Inventory of Operational and Miscellaneous Meteorological Records of the
Weather Bureau, NC 3, May 1965.
Related Microfilm Publications
M1379, Selected Documents From the Records of the Weather Bureau
Relating to New Orleans, 1870-1912;
T907, Climatological Records
of the Weather Bureau, 1819-1892.
Record Group 30
Records of the Bureau of Public Roads
Administrative History
The Bureau of Public Roads had its origins in an act of March 3, 1893,
which authorized the creation of an Office of Road Inquiry in the Department
of Agriculture. After a number of changes in title, the Office became the
Bureau of Public Roads in 1918 and retained that designation until 1939
when it became the Public Roads Administration as part of the Federal Works
Agency. On July 1, 1949, it was transferred to the General Services Administration
and renamed the Bureau of Public Roads, which was then transferred to the
Department of Commerce by Reorganization Plan No. 7 of 1949. An act of
October 15, 1966, transferred the Bureau to the Department of Transportation
where its functions were assigned to the Federal Highway Administration
(see RG 406).
Under the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, the Bureau has supervised Federal-State cooperative programs for road construction, reconstruction, and improvement. It also administers the highway beautification program and is responsible for developing and administering highway safety programs, constructing defense highways and roads in national parks and forests, expanding the interstate highway system, and providing assistance to foreign governments.
Records DescriptionDates: 1916-1971
Volume: 191 cubic feet
Records of Federal aid projects in: Arkansas, 1919-1968; Louisiana, 1916-1968; New Mexico, 1920-1971; Oklahoma, 1941-1964; Texas, 1920-1968. The records relate to project funding. They are primarily case files that include copies of project agreements, final agreements, plans and specifications, narrative progress reports, vouchers, and other documents. Nontextual records include right-of-way maps and photographs of construction activities.
Finding Aids
Truman R. Strobridge, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records
of the Bureau of Public Roads, PI 134 (1962).
Record Group 32
Records of the U.S. Shipping Board
Administrative History
The U.S. Shipping Board, established by the Shipping Act of 1916, was
formally organized on January 30, 1917, to regulate carriers by water and
develop a naval auxiliary and merchant marine. On April 16, 1917, the Board
established the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation (known
after 1927 as the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation) to procure,
construct, charter, equip, man, operate, and dispose of merchant vessels
for the Board. Under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 and subsequent legislation
the Board was given additional responsibilities. The Board was abolished
by Executive Order 6166 of June 10, 1933, and its functions were administered
through the U.S. Shipping Board Bureau in the Department of Commerce until
that Bureau was abolished by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.
Dates: 1918-1936
Volume: 16 cubic feet
Records of the Gulf District Office, New Orleans, which included subagencies at
The records relate to personnel working on vessels and in offices. Included are crew lists for Shipping Board vessels operating out of Galveston, 1919-1933; Mobile, 1919-1932; and New Orleans, 1918-1936; and card indexes and correspondence.
Finding Aids
Entries 538 and 539 in Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., Preliminary
Inventory of the Records of the United States Shipping Board, PI 97
(1956).
Record Group 33
Records of the Extension Service
Administrative History
Various extension activities of the Department of Agriculture were
consolidated with the organization of the Extension Service on July 1,
1923. The Service, which was known as the Federal Extension Service between
1954 and 1970, cooperates with State agricultural colleges, helps farmers
through the services of county agricultural and home demonstration agents,
publishes the results of agricultural research, and presents displays and
exhibits at fairs and expositions. In periods of crisis, such as drought,
economic depression, or war, local agents of the Service often perform
emergency activities.
Dates: 1911-1966
Volume: 216 cubic feet
Records of the district director, county agricultural and home demonstration agents, and other subject specialists working in Arkansas. The records relate to the organization and conduct of extension programs and aspects of rural life, such as crop and livestock production, farm and home management practices, health, marketing, nutrition, and recreation. Included are carbon copies of annual narrative and statistical reports. Newspaper clippings are attached to some reports. Nontextual records include photographs and maps.
Finding Aids
Virgil E. Baugh, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of
the Extension Service, PI 83 (1955).
Record Group 36
Records of the U.S. Customs Service
Administrative History
The Customs Service, created by an act of July 31, 1789, became part
of the Department of the Treasury when that Department was established
in September 1789. The Service has been responsible for the enforcement
of numerous laws and regulations pertaining to the import and export of
merchandise, collection of tonnage taxes, control of the entrance and clearance
of vessels and aircraft, regulation of vessels involved in the coastwise
and fishing trades, and the protection of passengers. A Bureau of Customs
was established on March 3, 1927, to supervise these activities, and in
1942 it assumed the responsibilities of the Bureau of Marine Inspection
and Navigation (see RG 41) relating to the registering, enrolling, licensing,
and admeasurement of merchant vessels. This responsibility was assigned
to the Coast Guard in 1967 (see RG 26).
The act that established the Customs Service in 1789 also provided for the creation of collection districts in various coastal, river, Great Lakes, and inland ports. A collector of customs in each district was responsible for the enforcement of all rules and regulations, including the protection of American seamen and passengers and the forwarding of basic data on immigration, imports, and exports. Upon occasion, the collector acted as the depository for Federal funds and collected taxes for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. A naval officer in each district, coordinate in rank with the collector, was required to keep separate accounts and copies of all manifests and entries and to countersign certain of the collector's accounts. A surveyor, under the collector's supervision, kept a daily record of all vessel arrivals and clearances and was assisted by inspectors, weighers, and gaugers in the collection and payment of bounty allowances and fees and the admeasurement of foreign vessels for tonnage duties.
Records Description
Dates: 1854-1976
Volume: 300 cubic feet
Records of collectors of customs and other customs officials at the following ports:
- Beaumont, Texas, 1916-1968
- Brownsville, Texas, 1939-1956
- Corpus Christi, Texas, 1933-1972
- Dallas, Texas, 1948-1972
- Del Rio, Texas, 1895-1913
- Eagle Pass, Texas, 1896-1905
- Edinburgh, Texas, 1871-1904
- El Paso, Texas, 1854-1933
- Galveston, Texas, 1903-1960
- Houston, Texas,1936-1973
- Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1942-1966
- Laredo, Texas, 1875-1967
- Morgan City, Louisiana, 1948-1961
- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1866-1974
- Port Arthur, Texas, 1939-1961
- Roma, Texas, 1884-1888
- San Antonio, Texas, 1950-1976
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.
Related Microfilm Publications
M174, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Treasury From Collectors
of Customs (G, "H", "I" Series), 1833-1869;
M175, Letters Sent by
the Secretary of the Treasury to Collectors of Customs at All Ports, 1847-1878
("G" Series);
M178, Correspondence of the Secretary of the Treasury
With Collectors of Customs, 1789-1833;
M334, Supplemental Index
to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports
(Excluding New York), 1820-1874;
M575, Copies of Lists of Passengers
Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at
Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-1873;
M1357, Index to Passenger Lists
of Vessels Arriving at Galveston, Texas, 1896-1906;
M1358, Index
to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Galveston, Texas, 1906- 1951;
M1359, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Galveston, Texas, 1896-1951;
T527, Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At New Orleans, Louisiana,
1853-1899;
T905, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans,
Louisiana, 1903-1945.
Record Group 41
Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation
Administrative History
Navigation laws were passed by the First Congress in 1789 and were
enforced by customs officers under the supervision of the Treasury Department.
In 1884 a Bureau of Navigation under the control of the Commissioner of
Navigation was established within the Treasury Department to administer
the navigation laws. In 1903 it was transferred to the Department of Commerce
and Labor along with the Steamboat Inspection Service, which had been established
in the Treasury Department in 1852 to formulate rules and regulations for
steamboat inspections. The two bureaus were merged in 1932 to form the
Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection, which was renamed the Bureau
of Marine Inspection and Navigation (BMIN) in 1936. In 1942 its functions
relating to merchant vessel documentation were transferred to the Bureau
of Customs (see RG 36) while those pertaining to merchant vessel inspection,
safety of life at sea, and merchant vessel personnel were transferred to
the U.S. Coast Guard (see RG 26). The Bureau was abolished in 1946.
Dates: 1853-1944
Volume: 86 cubic feet
Records of collectors of customs, functioning as field agents for the BMIN, at the following ports:
- Baytown, Texas, 1924-1944
- Beaumont, Texas, 1934-1943
- Brownsville, Texas, 1875-1922
- Galveston, Texas, 1860-1942
- Houston, Texas, 1908-1942
- Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1928-1943
- Morgan City, Louisiana, 1868-1925
- New Orleans, Louisiana, 1853-1942
- Port Arthur, Texas, 1933-1942
- Port Lavaca, Texas, 1921-1925
- Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1906-1924
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.
Record Group 49
Records of the Bureau of Land Management
Administrative History
The General Land Office (GLO) was established within the Treasury Department
by an act of April 25, 1812, to administer all public land transactions
except surveying and map work (which came under the supervision of the
GLO in 1836). In 1849, the GLO was transferred to the Department of the
Interior where it was merged with the Grazing Service in 1946 to form the
Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau classifies, manages, and disposes
of public lands and their resources and administers federally-owned mineral
resources on non-Federal land and on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Records Description
Dates: 1832-1924
Volume: 50 cubic feet
Records of land offices in Arkansas, 1840-1879; Louisiana, 1832-
1907; and New Mexico, 1868-1924. The records relate primarily to the collection
of fees, official accounts, and the status of entry claims.
Records of boards of townsite trustees for towns in Oklahoma, 1889-1913. The records document actions taken on claims and contests relating to town lots, and administrative matters. There are minutes of board meetings, dockets of contested claims, and ledgers of receipts and disbursements.
Finding Aids
Harry P. Yoshpe and Philip P. Brower, comps., Preliminary Inventory
of the Land-Entry Papers of the General Land Office, PI 22 (1949).
Related Microfilm Publications
M25, Miscellaneous Letters Sent by the General Land Office, 1796-1889;
M27, Letters Sent by the General Land Office to Surveyors General, 1796-1901.