Did you know that parts of the 1890 Census were destroyed in a fire?

The fire occured in 1921 in the basement of the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. Some documents were destroyed by the flames, and some documents were damaged by water and smoke. The fire prompted some individuals to push for better facilities for National Archives.

Some parts of the census were saved. According to the U.S. National Archives, they included:
The general population census schedules
Schedules of Union Civil War Veterans or their widows
Oklahoma territorial schedules
A list of selected Delaware African-Americans
Statistics of Lutheran congregations
Statistical information for the entire United States

For more information on this topic, please consult these resources:
The National Archives: The 1890 Census
"'First in the Path of the Firemen:' The Fate of the 1890 Population Census," Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 64-81 (Spring 1996), Part 1 and Part 2.
Census.gov: United States’ Population and Census Cost
Eleventh Census of the United States, 1890. M407. 3 rolls

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