Since first taking office in 1982, Huntington Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia has appreciated the significance of maintaining and preserving records documenting the functioning of Town government. Since that time, she has secured $156,346.00 in State Grant funding for the Town of Huntington to establish a Records Management Program. The Records Center opened in 1989 and stores 6,542 cubic feet of inactive records. The function of a Records Center is to receive, store and retrieve inactive records for all Town Departments, as well as carry out dispositions of said records on a regular basis.

The Huntington Town Clerk's Archives was created in 1993. It houses 1250 linear feet of historical documents, dating back to 1653, which document the Town's origins and growth. The Archives is committed to preserving records of historic value generated by all Town departments. It is the policy of the repository to make its collections available to the residents of Huntington, the broader academic community, and the general public for teaching, research, publications and exhibitions. In doing so, the Archives reflects the vision of the Town's Officials to better serve the community's legal, fiscal, and administrative needs.

In the short time of its existence, 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". A "Certificate of Commendation for the preservation and access to Huntington, New York, history" was awarded to the repository in 1997, by the American Association of State & Local History.

PURPOSE OF THE ARCHIVES

The Archives of the Town of Huntington collects, preserves, and provides access to the official records of the Town of Huntington. Records worthy of preservation are those with valuable information about the Town's past - information that is essential when charting current and future activities. The material the Archives maintains is necessary for legal, fiscal, and administrative documentation as well as for the Town's historical needs. Archival sources provide information on the history of the Town. They allow us to draw on practical solutions from the past to avoid wasting time and resources.

Archival processing makes records available to the researcher in a more efficient way, and can also substantiate legal claims and contentions. Because of the unique nature of its holdings, the Archives is also used by individuals engaged in historical research and education. The Records Center and Archives contain records related to the Town of Huntington from 1653 to the present. For a further description of the records, see the Record Group classification and the Finding Aid for each collection.

Town Clerk's Archives Outreach Program

The Huntington Town Clerk's Archives offers a unique experience to those interested in education and culture. School groups, from fourth grade through twelfth, and adults, study the repository's historic records for research.  The Manuscript collection consists of over 300 volumes and 45 linear feet of material dating back to 1653, the founding date of the Town. It includes Indian deeds and patents, chattel mortgages, thatch and underwater leases, highway, Town accounts and assessment/tax records, documents pertaining to the Revolutionary Era and the Civil War, town records regarding 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 election, Health Board, school, Receiver of Taxes, abolition of slaves, Overseers of the Poor and Trustees records.

The following services are available as part of the Archives Outreach program: Tours and all day activity programs are scheduled two months ahead of time. Tours are offered to any one interested in local history. All day programs are offered to school groups studying local history as part of their Social Studies curriculum or conducting research for term papers and history projects. Students have a chance to view some of the documents in the Archives and participate in different activities. Archival materials do not circulate.

The Archives is open Monday-Friday, except holidays, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. The conditions of research use must be consistent with the institution's archival policies for care and preservation of its collections. All copying of archival material is done on the premises. The charge per copy is twenty-five (.25) cents. Many of the documents are fragile or oversized, therefore, frequent copying is avoided. In order to ensure that space is available, researchers must make an appointment in advance of a visit. The Archivist can be reached at (631)351-3035 or amattheou@town.huntington.ny.us

Internships for high school and college students, volunteers and interns who wish to work on processing, indexing and genealogy projects are welcome at The Huntington Town Clerk's Archives.

Students who are interested in serving internships or completing an independent Study Course are encouraged to apply.  Internships are unpaid, but may be taken in conjunction with course work with the permission of the student's institution. Publications/Educational packets Publications are produced by the Archives for the purpose of supporting exhibits or to provide information about our holdings. They are available to anyone free of charge.

Titles available from the Archives include: The Coat of Arms; The Formation of Our Government; The Liberty Flag; The Town Seal;  Why Huntington; Reflections of the Pasr - A Brief History of the Town of Huntington Supplemented with Compilations of Chronologies; Our Legacy of the Civil War; The Revolution in Huntington and many more . Educational packets for teachers & students: "Indian Deed,1653" and "The Declaration of Rights of the Town of Huntington, 1774". Some of these publications can be niewed in the Town's On-Line-Library.

The Archives also provides workshops to train teachers in methods of researching and using historic records to enhance their school curricula. To register use the form, "Using Local Government Records to Create Document Based Questions (DBQ's)".

 Presentations and Exhibits Exhibits are an essential part of the Archives public and educational outreach program that demonstrates the value and benefit of historical records. Documents are displayed to commemorate different events such as Municipal Clerks' Week, Black History Month, Women's History Month and Independence Day . Some of our exhibits include: "Our Town Huntington - Reflections" during the official opening of the Archives, in May 1995. The exhibit touched on the origination of the Town, the school system, the Revolutionary War, the earliest churches in the Town, and views of buildings and main streets of the Town prior to the 1920's. "A Colonial Holiday Season" was our theme during Christmas of 1995. Scout groups were asked to create ornaments used by Huntingtonians during the colonial period providing that they do all the required research at their Public Library. "The Shores of Ketewomoke: Waterways of Huntington" was the 1996 exhibit. The exhibit included documents and photographs from the Archives and a diorama of life size Matinecock Indians witnessing the arrival of the first settlers at Huntington Harbor. An activity packet was also prepared that included puzzles, useful information on the local Indian tribes and discussion questions all based on the exhibit. The exhibit peaked the interest of the youngsters who participated to such a degree, that the local history curriculum of their school was expanded to include the study of the pirates in this area.

We have created a new activity of historic trivia, "Who's Who?" available in our online library. Correctly identify all three Town officials in colonial dress and win a three-volume copy of Town Records. Our most recent publication is the Newsletter 2008  .

Contact us to schedule a visit, presentation at your location, or for an informational package, all free of charge:

Town Clerk's Archives Huntington Town Hall

100 Main Street

Huntington, NY 11743-6991

(631) 351-3035 or (631) 351-3216

Antonia S. Mattheou, Town Archivist

Stacy H. Colamussi, Records Administrator

 

Huntington's 350th Anniversary Celebration