Resources

Archival Resources

The Historical Society of Rockland County's collection of archival materials consists of 185 cubic feet of manuscript, photographic, and paper ephemera dating from the late seventeenth century and significant materials relating to the Blauvelt family. Among the more than 4,000 items in our archives are Dutch bibles from families of Rockland County settlers, deeds and letters, architectural drawings, maps and atlases, account books and ledgers of local family businesses, and the papers of New York Senator Clarence K. Lexow (1878–1915).

The photographic collection contains film positives, negatives, and more than 2,400 glass plate negatives, lantern slides, and prints. Oral history and folklife survey interviews are maintained on cassettes and videotapes. Important acquisitions include Civil War diaries and documents of a Rockland County soldier and his family. 

The Sherwood Map Collection contains more than 10,000 maps, aerial photographs, and architectural and engineering drawings that document the rapid suburbanization of Rockland County from 1950 to 1980. It is now housed in the Rockland County Archives building in New City.

Archaeological Resources

The archaeological collection includes artifacts dating from approximately 8000 BC to AD 1400, produced by the Proto-Munsee, the region's first inhabitants. Among the items are 2,000 projectile points, scrapers, and axes, including a rare winged atlatl weight and several bifurcate projectile points. The collection was a gift of the noted twentieth-century New York historian George Budke.

Structures that are treated as part of the collections include the unique brick Dutch American style Jacob Blauvelt House (ca. 1832) and the Dutch-English transitional barn and carriage house (ca. 1860) that document the architecture of rural farm life in nineteenth-century Rockland County.

The Society also maintains a collection of hands-on reproductions for use in demonstrations and educational programs.