The Departmental Archives of Ain in France (FR: Archives départementales de l’Ain) is the official archive for Ain. France divides the country into numbered administrative regions, called departments. This is the French administrative region, Department 1, named after the Ain River. This site is free to search.

Birth, Marriage, and Death Records

• Church records & Civil Records & Decennial Tables or 10-year lists of all births, marriages, and deaths, collections vary but range from 1509 – 1918 (or present day minus 100 years, civil and decennial generally start at 1792)

Residence Records

• Census records, starting in 1836, censuses were taken every 5 years, except during war, they include names and surnames of each household member, age, place in household, profession, religion, and more; years online include 1836, 1841, 1846, 1851, 1856, 1861, 1866, 1872, 1876, 1881, 1891, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1911, 1921, 1926, 1931, 1936
• Notary records, Land Sales, marriage contracts, wills, etc, 1800s-1900s
• Cadastral maps & plans (search by town, Napoleonic Plan, Cantonal Atlas), 1800s-1900s

Daily Life Records

• Mortgages
• Postcards, 1800s-1900s
• Photographs
• Electoral lists
• Engravings
• Administration & Commercial directories, 1800-1968, these are government and business directories
• Tables of Successions
• Journals

Military

• Military registers, 1800-1940 “The registration registers of Ain are divided into two collections: the borough of Bourg-en-Bresse and the district of Belley, according to a military administrative division, which is not that of civilians. Thus, communes called “Bressanes” or “Dombistes”, bordering the river Ain are attached militarily to Belley.”

The Departmental Archives of Ain is part of the Rhône-Alps Region of France.

Departments in the Rhône-Alpes Region

• Department 01 – Department Ain
• Department 07 – Department Ardèche
• Department 26 – Department Drôme
• Department 38 – Department Isère
• Department 42 – Department Loire
• Department 69 – Department Rhône
• Department 73 – Department Savoy
• Department 74 – Department Haute Savoie