Welcome to The County Archives
The Archives preserves for consultation and study the documentary heritage of the history of Montgomery County.
We are open to the public 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, except for designated state and federal holidays. On-site parking is available and appointments are not necessary.
Montgomery County Archives Overview
The Montgomery County Department of Preservation of Records, more widely known as Archives, was created by the County Board of Commissioners in January 1995. The department serves as the official repository for county records and operates under Tennessee State law and the direction of the Montgomery County Public Records Commission. In order to meet the goals of our mission statement, we have two sections within the department. The Archives houses the historic, permanent records of Montgomery County Government and manuscript special collections. The Records Center stores the non-current records of various county government agencies.
Nearly all the pre-1950 records of the county have been transferred to the Archives. With some exceptions, we have both the original and a microfilm copy of these records. Some of our holdings are:
- Marriages, bound (from 1838) and loose (from 1866)
- Probate or will record books (from 1796)
- Deed books (from 1788)
- Loose papers of the County, Circuit, and Chancery Courts
- County Court minutes
- Chancery Court minutes
- Delayed birth certificate orders
In addition, we have several other groups of records for which processing is not complete. Among these are 1930s-1950s tax books, various maps, and loose papers of the Quarterly Court. We also have microfilm of the various census schedules from 1820 through 1930 for Montgomery County. These include the population, mortality, manufacturing, slave, and agricultural schedules. A complete listing of our microfilmed records is available in the Archives Reference Room and on this website.
We have a small but growing offering of manuscript and special collections. Recent donations and acquisitions include a group of Lewis Family letters, Bryce Stewart papers, and the Forwood papers.
The Records Center provides storage to various county agencies who are required to keep and maintain specific records for different retention periods but do not need them for day to day use. The retention dates for these records varies from five (5) to 99 years. The department serves as custodian for these records, which remain the property of the creating office.
The Archives Department features a large, well-lighted reference room where patrons can work using microfilm and original records, and a small basic research library. There are microfilm reader-printers as well as a public access computer which has our currently available databases and access to Ancestry and Footnote as well as other internet sites for research.
The main parts of the department are areas the public usually doesn’t see. The Archives and Records Center are two very large, secure and climate-controlled storage rooms for the records. There is a large processing/work area for volunteers and staff in addition to a conservation area, secured microfilm area, and an accessions/ projects area. Available for purchase is a full-size reproduction of the 1877 map of Montgomery County. Also available is our first publication, Montgomery County Marriage Book 1, 1838-1845. Book 2, 1845-1853 is nearing completion. Several database indices are available on our in-house system and on this website, including:
- 1891 Voters’ List (substitute for the destroyed 1890 census)
- Chancery Court case papers, Series I - III (plaintiff & defendant index); (under construction - every name index)
- Circuit Court case papers (plaintiff & defendant index)
- Delayed Birth Certificate orders (every-name index)
- Obituary & death notices
- Marriage Book 1 - 10 (1838- ) and Pre-1838
Available for purchase is a full-size reproduction of the 1877 map of Montgomery County. Also available is our first publication, Montgomery County Marriage Book I, 1828-1845. Book 2, 1845-1853, is being proofed and nearing completion.
Purposes of research are as varied as our patrons and include not only family history but researching land titles, land use, historic homes, buildings, and cemeteries, population statistics, and Tennessee law. Records, especially government records, were created for a particular purpose in a particular office, but in the Archives they take on a new life and become important research tools. The practical application of the knowledge of the court system, county offices, and their records is the reason researchers come to the Archives.
