The Loss of the 1890 Census - What really happened?

For anyone who has done more than a little genealogy research, the loss of the 1890 Federal Census leaves a gaping black hole in our records, at an often-critical period in our research. We often hear that the census was lost to a fire, but there is more to the story. To read the fascinating story of what really happened, and how fortunate we are that the loss of records was not far more extensive, see the Spring 1996 issue of Prologue magazine, published by the National Archives.