Old-Style U. S. State Abbreviations
Knowing the old fashioned U. S. state abbreviations - the abbreviations used before the current two-letter postal abbreviations - may help with your searches for transcriptions of old records. Many genealogy web sites and databases consist of transcribed historical records which leave in place abbreviations "as-is".
Knowing to search Google for both the state and its old fashioned abbreviation, such as Washington OR "Wash." can widen your search possibilities. If you are using Google to search for old records, these records will probably use the old abbreviation.
The two letter abbreviations came into use in 1963.
If you are reading an old document that uses the old style state abbreviations, the following list can help:
| Alabama | Ala. |
| Arizona | Ariz. |
| Arkansas | Ark. |
| California | Cal., Calif. |
| Colorado | Col., Colo. |
| Connecticut | Conn. |
| Delaware | Del. |
| Florida | Fla. |
| Georgia | Ga., Geo. |
| Idaho | Idaho |
| Illinois | Ill. |
| Indiana | Ind. |
| Indian Territory | I. Terr. |
| Iowa | Iowa |
| Kansas | Kan., Kans. |
| Kentucky | Ky. |
| Louisiana | La. |
| Maine | Me |
| Maryland | Md. |
| Massachusetts | Mass. |
| Michigan | Mich. |
| Minnesota | Minn., Mn. |
| Mississippi | Miss. |
| Missouri | Mo. |
| Montana | Mont. |
| Nebraska | Neb., Nebr. |
| Nevada | Nev. |
| New Hampshire | N. Hamp. |
| New Jersey | N. J. |
| New Mexico | N. Mex. |
| New York | N. Y. |
| North Carolina | N. Car. |
| North Dakota | N. Dak. |
| Ohio | O. |
| Oklahoma | Okla. |
| Oregon | Ore. |
| Pennsylvania | Penn., Penna. |
| Rhode Island | R. I. |
| South Carolina | S. Car. |
| South Dakota | S. Dak. |
| Tennessee | Tenn. |
| Texas | Tex. |
| Utah | U. Terr. |
| Vermont | Vt. |
| Virginia | Va. |
| Washington | W., Wash. |
| Washington, D. C. | Wash, D. C. |
| West Virginia | W. Va., W. Vir. |
| Wisconsin | Wis., Wisc. |
| Wyoming | Wyo. |