New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Lists of State Lands

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Overview of the Records

Repository
New York State Archives
222 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY 12230
Summary
This series consists of lists of land acquired by the state at comptroller's tax sales. Most of the lots are within the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Information usually includes a description of the parcel acreage; date of sale; source of acquisition; person to whom the parcel was sold; and (sometimes) redemption or cancellation of sale. These lists may have been used as hearing or trial exhibits.
Title
Department of Taxation and Finance lists of state lands
Quantity
2.9 cubic feet; 10 volume(s); 13 item(s)
Inclusive Dates
Bulk Dates
Series Number
B0987
Arrangement

Arranged by county.

Administrative History

Legislation of 1885 established a state forest preserve, designating 14 counties in which land then owned, or subsequently acquired, by the state would be preserved as forever wild forest land. Later, Chapter 444 of the Laws of 1912 (section 50), defined the forest preserve as lands owned or thereafter acquired by the state within Clinton (with exceptions), Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Oneida, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster, and Sullivan counties, except lands within the limits of any incorporated village or city.

Scope and Content Note

This series apparently consists of lists of land acquired by the state at comptroller's tax sales. Most of the lots are within the Adirondack Forest Preserve, but some were in other parts of the state.

The format of the list varies, but each usually contains a description of the parcel acreage, date of sale, and (sometimes) redemption or cancellation of sale. The purpose of these lists is uncertain; they may have been used as hearing or trial exhibits.

B0987-99: This accretion consists chiefly of five handwritten registers of land acquired by the state inside and outside the Forest Preserve during the tax-sale years 1871-1910. Information includes town; lot number; description of parcel; number of acres; tax sale year acquired; and remarks. Remarks include information regarding redemptions and sources of acquisition such as purchases, tax sales, or foreclosures of U.S. Deposit Fund Mortgages, and also include name of person to whom the property was sold.

Volumes listing land outside the Forest Preserve sometimes record information concerning subsequent sales by the Comptroller's Office (later by the Dept. of Taxation and Finance). Scattered information is given for sales of property as late as 1978.

Also included in the accretion are five small published volumes listing state lands either inside or outside the Forest Preserve for various years (ca. 1897-1920). Information in these volumes was gathered from original records maintained in the Comptroller's Office. The Conservation Commission published two of the volumes as appendices to their annual reports.

Access Restrictions

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

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