Chautauqua County was established in February 1811 when the 1810 tax rolls verified a population of more than 500 taxable inhabitants. Mayville was selected as the county seat and the first courthouse was constructed between 1812 and 1815 (the War of 1812 slowed construction). The county, lake, and town of Chautauqua were all originally spelled with an ‘e' at the end, until 1859 when the county's Board of Supervisors voted to change the spelling to Chautauqua. The County originally had just two towns, Pomfret and Chautauque, and all other towns were taken from these as the population grew.
The last town to be formed in the county was North Harmony, taken from the town of Harmony in 1918.
The County Archives, located in the courthouse complex in Mayville, is the largest repository of historical documents in Chautauqua County. The archive includes many of the county's earliest legal and court records dating from 1811. Since 1997, the records management program has utilized grant funds to improve the storage and preservation of historical documents. The work is ongoing.
Volunteers
The County Historian office can gratefully use volunteer help. This includes projects both at the office and digitally remote at home.
- Typing and transcribing historical documents
- Extracting data from documents or microfilms
- Contributing to databases
- Photography at historical events and marker unveilings
- Clipping and collecting news stories
- Assisting with digitization, scanning, and copying projects
- Proofreading new and old, digital and paper
- Research on various topics and projects including trips to other archives and libraries
- Updating and reformatting web material
- Creating and servicing a County Historian Facebook page
Town/Village Historians
Researching local history begins with the people responsible for its compilation. In New York State, every municipality (town, city, village, county) must have an appointed historian. Browse through the contact information for 41 municipal historians in Chautauqua County.
