Town Clerk’s Archives

The Huntington Town Clerk’s Archives is recognized by the New York State Education Department and is viewed as a model for other municipal archives to follow.

The mission of our repository is to identify, collect, preserve and organize permanent records necessary for the Town’s legal, fiscal, administrative and historical needs. Dedicated to promoting local history and teaching through the use of historical documents, the Archives makes its collections available to visiting scholars, students, writers, filmmakers, reporters, elected officials and the broader community by research, the development of publications, curating exhibits, offering presentations and tours, as well as by participating in history events, hosting all-day program activities and most recently by digitizing and uploading manuscripts on the digital collection management software, ContentDM.

The Archives was created in 1993 under the direction of Town Clerk and Records Management Officer, Jo-Ann Raia. It houses 1,295.50 linear feet of permanent records documenting the Town's establishment and growth. The manuscript collection consists of 193 volumes, 200 maps/drawings and 55 linear feet of material dating back to 1653, the founding date of the Town. It includes records such as Indian deeds and patents, chattel mortgages, thatch and underwater leases, highway records, town accounts and assessment/tax records, documents pertaining to the Revolutionary Era and the Civil War, Trustee records, Overseers of the Poor records, town records referring to the origination and functions of town government, court records dealing with all aspects of life since the establishment of the Town, vital statistics, as well as records pertaining to elections, schools, and manumission of slaves.

Since its establishment, the Huntington Town Clerk's Archives has earned the recognition of the State, as well as professional organizations. "The Guide to the Archival Records and Manuscripts of the Town of Huntington" was the recipient of a 1995 MARAC (Mid-Atlantic Region Archives Conference) Award. In 1996, the New York State Archives & Records Administration awarded our repository with the "Archives Week Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival Program Development.” The Archives was also awarded the "Certificate of Commendation for the preservation and access to Huntington, New York, history” in 1997 by the American Association of State & Local History.