Archives départementales de la Creuse
- Departmental Archives of the Creuse
Address
Phone
Fax
History
Like all French departmental archives, the Archives de la Creuse were created during the Revolution when the papers of the Ancien Régime administrations, ecclesiastical establishments and emigrant families were brought together in Guéret, the departmental capital.
Since then, their collection has been constantly enriched by the regulatory deposits of public archives (deposits from prefectures and sub-prefectures, external State services, General Council services, public establishments, centenary minutes of notary offices, centenary communal archive deposits), but also by donations or deposits of private archives.
In the 19th century, the Archives shared the premises of the Creuse prefecture, but this situation proved difficult due to the growth of the archives. Therefore, in 1892, the Archives were moved to the Hôtel des Monneyroux, the current headquarters of the Conseil Général. However, this historic building was not well suited to the growing number of 20th century archives, so in 1959 the Archives were moved to a building in the rue de l'ancienne mairie, which combined an 18th century hotel with purpose-built archive storage facilities. The latter were also slowly saturated by the influx of archives, and so the question of moving arose thirty years later.
In 1988, the Conseil Général de la Creuse bought the former offices and warehouses of the Coopérateurs de la Creuse to install the Archives Départementales.
Mandates/Sources of Authority
Building(s)
Designed by Gérard Buffière and Gérard Peiter, the new archives on rue Franklin Roosevelt are original in that they combine resolutely contemporary architecture, with perfectly functional interior plans, with the rehabilitation of a site and company buildings dating from the first half of the 20th century.
Finding Aids, Guides, and Publication
Opening Times
Exhibition hall open Monday to Thursday from 8.30am to 5pm and Friday from 8.30am to 4pm.
Reading room open Tuesday to Thursday from 8.30am to 5pm and Friday from 8.30am to 4pm.
Pick up times: 8.45am, 9.30am, 10.15am, 11.00am, 11.45am and 1.30pm, 2.15pm, 3pm (last pick up on Friday), 3.45pm
20 items per day, maximum of 5 per request.
A maximum of 2 documents will be placed on reserve for 15 days.
Conditions of Access
Access to archives is a citizen's right, guaranteed by law. Visiting the departmental archives is therefore free and open without restriction. Nevertheless, work in the reading room is governed by rules designed to maintain the best possible research conditions for all.
Not all archive documents can be consulted. The French Heritage Code sets time limits for certain categories of archives, mainly because of the protection of privacy.
Research Services
The mission of the Departmental Archives is to enable and assist research, but not to carry it out. For this reason, requests for general information will not be granted. Only requests mentioning an archival document or asking for the means to obtain an archival document will be answered.
Copies
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Archives départementales de la Creuse
-
USHMM holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from the Archives départementales de la Creuse grouped under "Selected records of the Departmental Archives of the Creuse." Detailed finding aids of the copies made by USHMM are available via the USHMM collection description.