Welcome to our Online Collections Database!

Thank you for visiting the La Porte County Historical Society's Online Collections Database. At this time, we are working diligently to house the Dr. M. Barbara Backer Medical Collection online. Hundreds of photos are added each month. Once the Dr. M. Barbara Backer Medical Collection is added in its entirety, we will be scanning and adding photographs from the Society’s archival collections. Check back monthly for new records made available.

Keyword Search

The Keyword Search button allows you to perform a general search across multiple fields for any catalog records online. Keyword searches use OR as the default connector between words (e.g. a search for Holy Family Hospital will return records associated with Holy OR Family OR Hospital). If you want to find records where both keywords are found, type in AND between the two words (e.g. a search for Samson AND Benjamin will return records of Dr. Samson Benjamin). To search for a specific phrase, be sure to put the phrase within quotes (e.g. "La Porte Hospital Foundation"). You can also use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard (e.g. a search for histor* would come up with records containing history, histories, historical, etc.). Searches are not case sensitive.

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search button can help you be more specific with your search. You can search for a word or phrase within a particular search category or use multiple categories to further narrow down your search results. For example, searching White in the People field will bring up any records associated with a member of the White family, without having to sift through black & white photographs. You can also search People and Creator records through Advanced Search. Phrase searching with quotes and use of wildcards (*) are available in Advanced Search.