New York State Department of State Maps of Lands Appropriated by State Agencies for Building Sites

A3326-78: Chronological by date and time of filing and therein by agency/site and/or map/parcel number.

A3326-07: Geographical.

The maps are in two groups with two different date spans. The first contains maps with filing dates from March 1961 to January of 1962. The second group contains maps filed between March and May of 1965.

A3326-78: Contains maps of land which were deemed necessary to be appropriated (acquired in fee) in the name of the people of the State of New York by state agencies for building sites. The appropriations shown in the maps were made according to sections of the Mental Hygiene Law, the Education Law, and the Military Law, and the maps were filed with the Department of State as the official office of record for filing such documents.

Specifically the maps show land parcels appropriated by the Department of Mental Hygiene (for state hospital sites), the State University of New York (for state college sites), and the Governor (for a state military armory site). The majority of maps pertain to parcels requested by the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene for various state hospitals. College sites include Fredonia, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Cortland, and the Medical Center at Syracuse. The state armory site is located at Whitestone, Queens County.

The maps include full descriptions and give map and parcel numbers, reputed owners, and acreage. They carry preparation, approval, and some filing statements (primarily from the Department of Public Works, the State Architect, or the Bureau of Right of Way and Claims) dating from 1960 to 1962, as well as certification statements by various state agency officials. Scale information is often found on or near the directional symbol on the map. They are all whiteprint or blueprint copies; very few show slight annotations (usually additions or corrections to the descriptions). The bulk of the maps measure 38 x 90 cm, but they include others that measure as large as 35.5 cm x 102 cm.

The series also includes copies of several incorporation maps, maps of extended boundaries annexed to villages, and plot maps of unappropriated county lands that are mixed in with the other maps, apparently at random. These maps differ significantly from the appropriation maps, and in all cases were filed with the Department of State many years before the appropriation maps were filed. The largest map measures 130 x 102 cm and others are much smaller. The reason why these maps were filed with this series is unknown.

A3326-07: Consists of maps filed with the Department of State regarding lands appropriated for construction sites by the State Education Department and the Department of Mental Hygiene. The State Education Department filed maps pertaining to the construction of the College of Education at the University at Buffalo and a new sewer for Harpur College in the town of Vestal, in Broome County. The Department of Mental Hygiene filed maps for a new state school in the town of West Seneca, in Erie County.

A3326-11: This accretion consists of one blueprint map with descriptions of property which the Superintendent of Public Works deemed necessary to be appropriated pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 776 of the Laws of 1931 for the construction of the proposed Troy-Menands Bridge. Also included is a cover letter addressed to the Department of State, giving map number (85), parcel number (86), and name of reputed property owner.

A3326-07: These maps were most likely transferred to the New York State Archives by the New York State Library in 1978, but somehow became estrayed from the initial accession and were never accessioned. They were subsequently discovered and accessioned in July 2007 as part of the eleventh floor renovation project.

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