Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

Indiana's journal page dated July 5, 1961, includes a sketch of the painting Year of Meteors, with the comment "what by Friday was to include the above was commenced, started last night as fourth project." It is the first mention of the painting in his journals.