Governmental records at the state, county, and city level are important resources for studying the past and the documents are usually available in state or local archives. But when local bodies digitize public historical resources, it makes the researcher’s job so much easier, increases efficiencies for agency staff, and reduces custodial and preservation problems as paper ages and becomes fragile.
Recently I needed to do some work with the public records in Charlestown, MD. and I discovered that the town has done a fine job of making its paper records available electronically on the web. Beginning in 1755, the commissioner’s minutes are online, and although there are missing years, the documents continue to the present day. In addition, there is a great array of historic Charlestown Maps available, beginning with a rendering from 1742.
One particularly helpful thing is that Google searches and indexes the documents.
Thank you, Town of Charlestown, for making public records available in such an efficient and helpful way. Anyone studying the past in Cecil County’s oldest town, which was incorporated in 1742, will find this to be a helpful resource.
