Cayuga County Historian's Office

Name: Cayuga County Historian’s Office

Address: 10 Court Street, Auburn, NY 13021
Phone: (315) 253-1300

Website: http://www.cayugacounty.us/Community/Historian

Court Street is a small, one-way street off of Genesee, one of the main streets through Auburn. The other, North and South Streets, is nearby. Turning down this street, you will find it is narrow with a few parking spaces available. Park here or in the small lot that opens up on the right hand side of the street. Either one of these metered places is a good choice as the Historian’s office is almost directly opposite. Approaching the office, you will be uncertain if you have found the right building despite the sign on the front. It is a small building with older style reminiscent of the 1950s or 60s style of architecture and no entrance on the front. Walk down the right side of the building and you will find doors opposite each other in an alcove that are for the historian’s and the record’s offices. Both departments require you to ring a bell and they will come to admit you.

Hours:  January thru June and September thru December:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9am-5pm

Wednesday-Closed Jan. thru June & Sept. thru Dec.

Summer hours in July & August
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 9am-4pm
Wednesdays 9-12

I was also told that on some days the office is closed between noon and one for lunch if only one staff member is there that day.

Restrictions, photocopies etc.: You cannot photocopy anything yourself and cameras are not allowed. However, the staff is happy to make the copies of whatever you need. Costs are 25 cents each or 65 cents for documents such as deeds. Do be aware that tote bags, purses, cameras, coats and such cannot be taken into the reading room area. There are no secure lockers to hold your belongings. However, they do provide a coat rack and a chair near their desks to place your items. As it is a quiet office on a side street with secured entryway, I was comfortable leaving my purse sitting in the chair. During my research, nobody else came in or left the office.

Most of what the historian’s office has is folders with a few books on various local topics available. The folders are in two groups. The first group is Surname files of people in and around Cayuga County. The second is a Subject file of various topics that are of general interest in the area or that pertain to certain towns, such as a file on fires in Fleming. Looking through some of the surname files, I found a few newspaper clippings abut the family. The items that are more of a treasure to researchers though, is the correspondence that has been saved. Queries from people that have written to the historian’s office, along with the replies, are tucked away in these folders. You need to look in folders of names related to the family as well. In one folder I found correspondence from a researcher about that family. Mixed in to her letters were mentions of two other families that were somewhat related to them. As happens to most of us, she was researching all three families at once, so the inquiries were mixed together in those letters and the letters haven’t been duplicated for the other family files.

My finds the day I visited here were a few little tidbits. The families I was looking at were ones I have researched for at least a couple decades in this area. For somebody beginning to research a family or just finding them located in this county, the finds could be enormous as there are many things tucked away in these folders.