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Historically Lewis

Home of the Lewis County Historical Society

Information Center and Library

Our Information Center and Library is located at the Temple and includes both our own records and those of the Lewis County Research Center, which we maintain for the Lewis County government and, as a department of the County, includes a variety of County records. The Information Center and Library is open year-round whenever the Historical Society is open, and all research is free. (Those requiring access to the records of the Information Center and Library on off-hours should please contact our Office Manager, who will try to accommodate your requests.)

Materials Available

Among the materials we have available at the Research Center are the following:

  • Hough’s History 1860
  • Hough’s History 1883 including name index
  • Bowen’s History 1880 – 1965
  • Books on various aspects of Lewis County history
  • Lewis County Directory 1872
  • Lewis County Directory 1896
  • Lowville Directory 1902
  • Farmers Directory of St. Lawrence County 1918
  • Farmers Directory of Jefferson and Lewis Counties 1918
  • Cutter’s Families of Northern NY 1912 including name index
  • Important Families of Southern Lewis County
  • Crawford Files (compilation of statistical information of Lewis County Individuals)
  • Birth and Death records from Lewis County Newspapers (1831 – 1859)
  • Immigration Cards
  • Alsace-Lorraine Genealogies
  • WWII Ration Cards
  • Revolutionary War Soldier List
  • War of 1812 Soldier List
  • Civil War Soldier List (“Where We Stand,” by Charles Shaw)
  • Census Records
  • Obituary file index
  • Names Files
  • Newspapers on Microfilm:
    • Journal and Republican
    • Lewis County Democrat
    • Adirondack Sun
    • Black River Gazette
  • Cemetery Records for all Townships
  • Cemetery Index and Maps
  • 1875 De Beers Atlas of Lewis County
  • 1875 De Beers Atlas of Oneida County
  • Topics Files
  • General History Files
  • List of Lewis County Historical Society Journal articles
  • List of articles in New York Life
  • Family Genealogies
  • Scrap Books
In addition, the Lewis County Historical Society possesses various collections pertinent to Lewis County history. While these are not located in our Research Center, we will get them out of our archives for researchers and patrons to review in the Research Center. These include such thing as:
  • Document and Photograph Boxes for each Township
  • Document boxes by category, such as Lowville Academy, Gould Paper Mill, Lowville Fair, etc
  • Native American Collection
  • Fossil Collection
  • Textile Collection
  • Object collection
  • Map Collection
  • Genealogies
  • Hard copies of newspapers that have been microfilmed in Research Center
  • Large book collection on state, county, and local history
  • Business directories
  • Letters and diaries

We work closely with the Lewis County Clerk, whose office is the official “keeper of the records” for many public records of Lewis County, as well as court records of the Supreme Court and the County Court in Lewis County. We can direct you to additional County records still held in the Clerk’s Office, which is just up the street from the Historical Society. These include such things as the following:

  • Deeds
  • Mortgages
  • Satisfaction of mortgages
  • Civil Records
  • Supreme Court Affidavits
  • County Court Affidavits
  • County Court Orders
  • Supreme Court Executions
  • Judgments and Rolls
  • Tax Rolls (County Treasurer’s Office)
  • Census 1830, 1850, 1855, 1860, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925
  • Births 1848 – 1850, deaths 1847 – 1849, and marriages 1847 – 1849 (incomplete)
  • Maps
  • Naturalization records
  • Miscellaneous records

Lewis County Clerk’s Office
Lewis County Court House
7660 N. State Street
Lowville, NY 13367

315-376-5333 | 315-376-3768

Email: clerk@lewiscounty.ny.gov

Open: Monday through Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm