Huntington Town Clerk's Archives
Situated in Town Hall, the Huntington Town Clerk’s Archives is a local government repository established in 1993 under the direction of the Town Clerk, Jo-Ann Raia. It houses 2500 linear feet of permanent records documenting the Town’s growth and history.
The manuscript collection consists of over 300 volumes and 45 linear feet of material dating back to 1653, the date the Town was founded. The collection includes Indian deeds and patents, chattel mortgages, thatch and underwater leases, highway, town accounts, assessment and tax records, documents pertaining to the Revolutionary Era and the Civil War, court records dealing with all aspects of life, vital statistics, records regarding elections, schools, the abolition of slavery, the poor, and town trustees.
The mission of the repository is to identify, collect, preserve and organize resources essential to 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 Dedicated to promoting local history and teaching through the use of historical documents, the Archives makes its holdings available to scholars, students, filmmakers, reporters, elected officials, business people and the community. It conducts research, issues publications, prepares exhibits and presentations, hosts tours and activities and participates in local history events.
The Archives is focused on improving access to its historical records and ensuring their availability for future generations. It has been recognized nationally and by the New York State Education Department, winning numerous awards. It is viewed as a model for other municipal archives to follow.
Visit the Huntington Town Clerk's Archives website
This collection contains items from "Celebrating The Cultural Diversity of the Town of Huntington," which was hosted by the Huntington Town Clerk, Jo-Ann Raia and the Town Clerks' Archives Cultural Diversity Committee on May 6, 2007.
This collection covers four major wars:
- The Revolutionary War (1774-1786): Information pertains to receipts for supplies, lists of Companies, oaths, town accounts, orders, letters, meeting decisions and two volumes of war claims. Volume one is made up of small volumes bound together. They are records of claims made by residents of Huntington.
- The War of 1812: Contains personal letters from 1812 to 1813.
- The Civil War (1861-1866): Documents cover these years with references made in 1959 and 1960. The sub-series contains the enrollment of men from Huntington, military exemptions, affidavits of acceptance for military service, relief ticket certificates, voting ballots, affirmation of residence, and oaths, Board of Registry of Election affidavits, absentee ballot affidavits, town accounts, bounty receipts, town meetings and printed materials.
- World War II (1939-1945): A file for Civil Defense is broken down into several sections which contain the following information: U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, radio, certificate of honor (blanks), fire hazard reports, A.W.V.S., list of manufacturing plants and railroad yards, several lists concerning groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, local newspapers, town officials, Police Department Chiefs, Fire Department Chiefs, a list of Air Raid Wardens, utilities of Huntington Township and emergency medical services. Also included is the Ration Board schedule, letters to the Highway Department concerning emergency driver's cards, and registered letters to the families of deceased veterans regarding the dedication of the Gold Star Battalion Park in 1957.
This collection contains 23 Indian deeds, patents by Royal Governors, and records pertaining to the Lloyd Neck acquisition (1653-1847).
Contains records on boundaries & consolidations of Huntington with neighboring Towns, school district maps, harbor maps, oyster leases maps (1664-1884, twelve map drawers).
This collections includes patents given to the Town by British Governors: Nichols patent 1666, Dongan 1688 and Fletcher 1694. Also noteworthy are manuscripts pertaining to the Lloyd Neck acquisition by the Town, including deeds, litigation and maps (1659-1963).
Photos of archives exhibits, events and projects. Of interest is an image of filmmaking on Main Street, for a silent film “Tongues of Flames,” 1924.
Beginning with the hiring of Jonas Houldsworth as the town's first schoolmaster in 1657, Huntington hired schoolmasters independently of any other town. This practice continued throughout the colonial period, but obviously as the town grew and the population spread out, there was a need for more than one school building. With the establishment of the United States, and a growing population, public education began to be a little more centralized. "Reports through the early 1800s list eighteen whole districts and five part districts" in Huntington.
In 1795 the State Legislature gave Suffolk County money to establish free schools. The supervisors of each town in the county would meet and distribute funds to each town. In 1812 the state passed a law establishing common schools. This law provided for a certain amount of money to be given to the county for allocation to each town. Each town was then to collect by tax a matching sum. Commissioners were elected to allocate the money to each school in town. In 1857 the Legislature created the Huntington Union School District, with a Board of Education presiding.
The School records describe the boundaries of each school district, records of monies paid to each district, the number of students, amount paid to teachers as well as the amount allotted to the library.
Images reflect events and exhibits organized by the Huntington Town Clerk’s Archives over the years.