Montgomery County
Department of
History & Archives

Interest generated by the bicentennial of Montgomery
County in 1972, the bicentennial of our Country in 1976,
and the sesquicentennial of our Old Courthouse in 1986
have all contributed to the Montgomery County Department
of History and Archives. It has become one of the largest
repositories for historical and genealogical collections in
the State of New York.

Vital records, such as births, deaths and marriages, are
indispensable to the genealogical researcher; Note that
these records were not required to be kept by the State of
New York prior to 1880 (only miscellaneous records in the
city and town clerk offices prior to that date). The Mont-
gomery County Department of History and Archive and research
library contains the third largest collection of indexed ge-
nealogical records in the State of New York to meet these and
other needs.

Montgomery County was formed from Albany County in 1772
(as Tryon County), and at that time covered a large part of
the state. The name was changed to Montgomery in 1784 in
honor of General Richard Montgomery, Revolutionary War hero.
Thirty-four counties were formed from the original Tryon-
Montgomery County.

The historical and genealogical research library contains
thousands of original county records - (common pleas,
deeds, supreme court and surrogate's court), along with
a vast collection of genealogical material - (census,
cemetary, military, church, etc.) that are vital to the
researcher. Also vital is our over 500 historical and
genealogical folders compiled by the department over the
past 54 years. An experienced staff is available to assist
the more than 3000 visitors to the department, from all over
the world.