New York State Department of State Bureau of Miscellaneous Records Village Incorporation Files and Maps

Alphabetical by name of village.

The Department of State, created by Chapter 437 of the Laws of 1926, is the official office of record for filing many documents, including certificates of incorporation (except for banking, insurance, and educational corporations), and the office of Secretary of State (head of the department) has served as the general recording office for state government since its creation in 1778. Much of the material in the files is date stamped as filed in the Department of State.

Chapter 64 of the Laws of 1909 (derived from Chapter 414 of the Laws of 1897, and Chapter 607 of the Laws of 1907) declares a village is deemed incorporated when a certificate of the secretary of state is issued certifying that an outline map and description of the corporate limits of a village have been received and filed in the office of the secretary of state, together with the date of the filing. The certificate becomes the record of the village clerk's office, and the date of filing of the map and description by the secretary of state completes the incorporation and is deemed the date of incorporation of the village. An amendment to that law, Chapter 205 of the Laws of 1911, required the president of a village to prepare a certified map and description of the corporate limits of the village "drawn or traced in black india ink on tracing cloth" and file it with the secretary of state. In turn the secretary was required to notify each village president of the filing requirement.

Annexation of land to a village is covered by Chapter 607 of the Laws of 1907, which states that territory not in a village or city may be annexed to an adjoining village. A petition for annexation may be presented to a board of trustees of the village, and upon their consent a proposition for annexation is submitted at a special election. If adopted, the annexation takes effect when the village clerk receives a certificate of the secretary of state certifying that an outline map and description of the village as extended, together with the date of its filing in the secretary of state's office, is received by the village clerk. The map must plainly show and describe the territory annexed, and the date of filing is deemed the date of annexation of the territory into the village.

This series consists primarily of resolutions by county legislative bodies and responses to questionnaires filed with the Department of State relating to village incorporation and changes to the boundaries of incorporated villages. Related maps documenting village boundaries and boundary alterations are also included in the series but are filed separately from the other documents. The series includes documents relating to initial incorporation, reincorporation, and annexation or diminishment of lands within existing village boundaries.

Although the contents of the files for each village vary, the records generally include: forms for filing local laws with the department (usually pursuant to general municipal law) to provide for extension of boundaries of a village, usually through annexation of lands; petitions, certificates, and other documents generated by village annexation proceedings; copies of the legal description of lands comprising the village, usually certified by the village clerk; lists of incorporated villages in the county; standard forms of the department requesting information from the village clerk in order to complete and/or update department records, particularly for older villages for which there was meager filing information; certificates of the Board of Canvassers or other election inspectors relating to special elections held for the purpose of voting for or against village incorporation; certified copies of certificates of election filed with the department upon propositions for reincorporation under village law; resolutions of village boards of trustees adopting petitions of annexation, or resolutions to diminish the village boundaries, sometimes with roll call votes; copies of maps that were required to be sent to the department by law, usually showing official village boundaries and/or changes wrought by annexation; and transmittal correspondence to and from the department and village and some special correspondence, including requests to the department to issue a certificate showing the incorporation of the village for display or commemorative purposes.

The forms filled out by the village clerk to check or complete department files are especially informative. The forms show whether the village was still functioning at the time of the request and contain a capsule of the village history. Information given includes: under what law the village was incorporated (special act, general laws, village law); dates of incorporation, dissolutions, name change, or reincorporation; town(s) in which the village is located; village population; and whether the village was consolidated with another village, and its current status.

Transmittal letters in the files often refer to maps sent to the department under separate cover, and correspondence from the department often includes reminders to the village to supply maps that have not been submitted as required by law. The department correspondence often specifies that maps should be prepared on a linen material or transparency suitable for reproduction "by the blackline method" from which the department would make copies (retaining a copy for its records). In later years the Department of Transportation's Mapping Services Bureau made such copies. Most maps carry stamped or hand written numbers issued by the department, and that number may also appear on file folders or some transmittal correspondence and descriptions of corporate limits.

The majority of maps found in the series (approximately 1,500) were produced to the specifications of and in accordance with Chapter 205 of the Laws of 1911. These maps of the village corporate limits have certifications by the village president affixed to them or written directly on the map face, along with written descriptions of the boundaries. Usually title, scale, date, and preparer information is present. They are largely linen tracings; the bulk of the maps measure 90 x 120 cm or smaller.

Copies of maps (approximately 200) are also intermittently present in the village files. The copies are usually photocopies, photostats, annotated print copies (sometimes annotated in color), or, more rarely, blueprint copies. Those copies that are annotated usually show original and/or new village boundary lines, extensions, corrections, or incorporated annexed land areas. There are sometimes separate boundary line maps included showing only the land to be offered for annexation. The degree of information contained on the maps varies. Often title, scale, date, and preparer information is present. There are sometimes notes giving information on original filings in the clerk's office, the survey from which the map was plotted, ratification of elections, and acreage. Sometimes the given scales on the copies are crossed out and marked "not to scale". Overall these maps are considerably smaller than the village boundary maps, measuring approximately 77 x 120 cm or smaller.

An alphabetical/numerical index to this series is available, arranged alphabetically by name of village.

13243-14: An alphabetical card index for each year provides village name, annexation number, date filed, and number(s) of associated maps.

13243-14: Village annexation files from 1989-1990 were transferred to the State Archives by the Department of State in 1992 under the incorrect RDA number. These files were then erroneously accessioned as part of accretion 13242-92, Interlocal Agreements. Subsequent investigation revealed that the village annexation files should have been accessioned as an accretion to series 13243. These files were reaccessioned as accretion 13243-14 in September of 2014. Interlocal agreements 19 and 20 remained as accretion 13242-92.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.