(La Porte, IN) - Since taking office over three years ago, La Porte County Recorder Ela Bilderback has been on a mission to properly preserve property records.
In the heart of the county courthouse is a two-story vault that houses property records dating back to 1833, a year after La Porte County was founded. Unfortunately, over the years, the stash of records has been neglected. According to Bilderback, the vault had become a storage closet, full of boxes and outdated computer equipment, while old record books sat slowly deteriorating. She said the county’s maintenance and IT departments were very helpful in the cleanup process. After clearing out the junk, she set out to curate the historic records. “They’re giant, beautiful books,” said Bilderback. “The early ones are hand-written.”
Bilderback has partnered with HF Group, a company in North Manchester, which specializes in government record preservation, following guidelines from the Library of Congress. Bilderback sends them out 25 at a time. Most of the work involves neutralizing acid on the paper. Other books need repair.
“There was a lot of scotch tape used,” she said. “One actually has duct tape holding the front cover. And from being handled for a hundred years or more, oils from fingers caused the paper to become brittle.” Now the old books are getting the cotton-glove treatment. According to Bilderback, her office has preserved about 125 books, with as many as 300 left to go, plus some other old records.
She can’t create the 35-degree environment that a professional document archive requires, but she has improved airflow in the vault by installing a fan.
Paying for the preservation comes from money already in the recorder’s budget. It’s a labor of love for Bilderback and her dedicated staff.
“This is what we’re supposed to do,” said Bilderback. “My office has the responsibility to take care of those records, to make sure they’re preserved, taken care of properly. I love history, and I would hate to see them not taken care of,” she explained. “I saw the need, and I felt that it should be done.”
Bilderback doesn’t know why previous recorders didn’t keep up with preservation. She guesses they were preoccupied with the office’s day-to-day operations. “I feel that I can do both,” she said. Bilderback said she took advantage of the recent slowdown in the real estate market (fewer properties bought and sold means fewer recordings) to focus efforts on “housekeeping.” Her office also maintains microfilm copies of all documents, as required by state law, as well as electronic backups.
Bilderback says she has a heart for the job. In her spare time, she serves as vice president of Preserve Historic La Porte. She knows firsthand how important the records are to owners of historic properties.
