National Archives at St. Louis

Archival Programs Division

Archival Records Holdings
Contact Information
Archival Research Room

What is the difference between Federal and Archival Records?

The National Archives at St. Louis maintains a number of different records series among its holdings. Records include Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs), Federal civilian Official Personnel Folders (OPF), and Selective Service Records. Click on the links below for an overview of our holdings and information on how to access these records.

Archival Records Holdings:

Archival Military Personnel Records:

Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) - for veterans with a discharge date of 1957 or prior.*
For non-archival OMPFs for veterans with a discharge date of 1958 or after.
OMPFs of Persons of Exceptional Prominence (PEP) - military personnel files of Presidents, members of Congress and the Supreme Court; famous military leaders; decorated heroes; celebrities; and other cultural figures who served in the military

Archival Civilian Personnel Records:

Official Personnel Folders (OPF) - for former Federal civil servants whose employment ended prior to 1952.**
For OPFs of former Federal civilian employees separated after 1951.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Enrollee Records
Service Record Cards - check back later for more information

Archival Other Records:

Auxiliary and Organizational Records: includes Morning Reports, Unit Rosters, Officer Pay Cards (Army), Muster Rolls (Navy), U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office Records and VA Index Cards
Selective Service Records
District of Columbia National Guard Service Records- check back later for more information
Air Force Individual Deceased Personnel Files -check back later for more information
Navy Individual Deceased Personnel Files - check back later for more information

Address | Directions | Hours

	Archival Military Personnel Records	Archival Civilian Personnel and Other Archival Records
Address	National Personnel Records Center 1 Archives Drive St. Louis, MO 63138	National Archives at St. Louis P.O.Box 38757 St. Louis, MO 63138
Phone	314-801-0800	Please write to the above address
Fax	314-801-9195	Please write to the above address

Archival Research Room
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(Closed weekends and Federal holidays)
For an appointment, please call 314-801-0850

Directions (Printable version)
The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and the National Archives at St. Louis are located in suburban north St. Louis County, near the intersection of MO-367 and I-270.

1 ARCHIVES DRIVE
ST. LOUIS, MO 63138

From Lambert St. Louis International Airport:
Take I-70 East toward St. Louis, merge onto I-170 North (Exit 238B) on the left, merge onto I-270 East (Exit 10B), exit to Bellefontaine Road (Exit 32) and turn left, take the first left onto Dunn Road. The building will be on the right.

From the West:
Take I-270 North/East toward Chicago, exit to Bellefontaine Road (Exit 32) and turn left, take the first left (after the bridge) onto Dunn Road. The building will be on the right.

From the East
Take I-270 West toward St. Charles, exit to Bellefontaine Road (Exit 32) and stay straight to go onto Dunn Road. The building will be on the right.

From the North:
Take US-67/MO-367 South, merge onto I-270 East toward Chicago, exit to Bellefontaine Road (Exit 32) and turn left, take the first left (after the bridge) onto Dunn Road. The building will be on the right.

From the South:
Take I-270 North (which becomes I-270 East), exit to Bellefontaine Road (Exit 32) and turn left, take the first left onto Dunn Road. The building will be on the right.

The Guard at the gate will provide further information about parking and building entry. Our Archival Research Room is located on the first floor.

Please note: the National Archives and Records Administration is actively working to replace the aging NPRC facilities in St. Louis, MO to comply with new federally-mandated records storage requirements (see The New NPRC).

* Records are accessioned into the National Archives, and become archival, 62 years after the service member's separation from the military. This is a rolling date; hence, the current year, 2019, minus 62 years is 1957. Records with a discharge date of 1957 or prior are archival and are open to the public. Records with a discharge date of 1958 or after are non-archival and are maintained under the Federal Records Center program. Non-archival records are subject to access restrictions.

** Beginning in 2009, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) signed agreements with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that transferred ownership of the Official Personnel Folders (OPF) of certain former Federal civil employees from OPM over to NARA. As a result, the records of many former Federal civil servants whose employment ended prior to 1952 are now open to the public.

Top