Who We Are

        Many people believe archives means old records. While we house the county's old records, we have a lot more than that. By definition, archives means the official records of an institution. Established in 1997 as a department of the Washington County Judge's Office, this department assists all county offices manage their inactive records, both old and new . Whereas the Records Center (please click here for employee procedures manual) houses inactive records having short-term value, the Washington County Archives houses inactive and semi-active records having long-term historic, legal, or administrative value. Most records housed in the archives were created by the offices of Circuit Clerk and County Clerk. However, there are a few archival records created by the offices of Assessor, Collector and Treasurer.  Our earliest record was created in 1828 and, at this writing, our most recent record is from 2005.

What We Have

        For the convenience of researchers, the records inventory on the Archives Home Page has been arranged first by general records type and then with links to records inventories of those offices that originally housed the records.  Washington County Records Inventories show records groups, series, date spans, number of volumes, drawers or boxes for each series of records, how records can be accessed (original, microfilm, and/or computer) and retention periods for each record. Click on one of the following groups of records to learn more:

Research Services

        Although this office can no longer  conduct extensive research, if you provide us with an approximate year a single document was recorded, we can fax or mail it to you. (However, for extensive research requests, it will be necessary for you to obtain services of a professional genealogist or a title company.) Our photocopy fee is 10 cents per copy plus postage, if mailed; fax copies cost $5.00 per fax. Pre-payment is required for all mail and fax requests.  For assistance with historical and genealogical research, we also suggest you contact these helpful sources. They have many published indices to non-county records which are not available at the Washington County Archives.

How To Reach Us

        The Washington County Archives is located on the 2^nd floor of the historic Washington County Courthouse in the areas formerly housing the Circuit Clerk's and County Clerk's offices. Our hours are Monday through Friday 8:00-4:30. We would love to see you in person. If you cannot make it to Fayetteville, you may contact us in one of the following manners:

To learn more about the Archives & Records Management profession, please visit:

Association of Records Managers and Administrators at www.arma.org
The Library of Congress at http://lcweb.loc.gov/
The National Archives at www.nara.gov/ and
The Society of American Archivists at www.archivists.org/

We hope you find the Washington County Archives Home Page useful.
If you have questions or comments, please let us know.
We are always looking for better ways to serve you.

Updated 04/02/10