Research

The Archives has census records of inmates in almshouses and poorhouses for the period 1826-1921, the bulk of which date from 1875-1921 (series A1978).  Census forms provide information on individual inmates' personal, family, and economic history.

The New York office of Fairchild Aerial Surveys (a commercial firm) produced low-altitude, oblique aerial views of a variety sites in New York State only.  The Archives holds images of these views dating ONLY from 1947-1957 (series B1598).

The Archives has brief abstracts of New Yorkers' WWI military service in the Army, Navy, and Marines (series B0808).  Abstracts for Army nurses and Navy yeomen (female) and nurses are also included.

The Archives holds War of 1812 Abstracts of Payrolls for New York State Militia (series B0810).  We also hold claim applications and certificates for service in the War of 1812 (series A0020, and A3352).  The Archives does NOT have original muster rolls.

Patents are lands/privileges granted to one or more persons by the British crown or the state of New York.  Archives series A0447 contains "military" patents that were granted, based on a proclamation of King George III, to officers or soldiers residing in the colony (period 1764-1775).

Many (not all) private deeds from the 17th-18th centuries are recorded in series A0453.  There are grantor (series A4688) and grantee (series A4689) indexes available. Deeds and indexes are on microfilm in the research room (not available online or for ILL).

The Archives has aerial photographs of New York State created by the Department of Transportation (DOT) from the 1930s to 2000. The images are known as CSCIC aerial photographs because prior coming to the Archives, they were transferred from DOT to the state Office for Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC).

Patents are lands/privileges typically granted to one or more persons by the British crown or the state of New York.  "Proprietors" were joint owners of a patent, who subdivided, surveyed, and conveyed individual allotments.  Patents are NOT deeds conveying land from person-to-person. Grants of land by the colony/state of New York since 1664 are recorded in series 12943.

The Archives has records of New York State posts of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) (Series B1706).   These are organizational records kept by the GAR posts.  These records are in 14 categories.  Among them are post charters, descriptive books, encampment records, and regimental history surveys.

State Archives holds state (1894-1954) and local government (1930s-1954) employee history cards (series 15029). The cards provide summary work history of individuals employed by New York State and local governments under the Civil Service System. There are NO records for employees of private companies, even if those businesses provided contract workers for the state or local governments.