Delete WardOur Mission
The mission of the Cleveland City Council Archive is to advise and assist city offices, primarily Cleveland City Council, in the management, retention, disposition, storage, and preservation of their records, and to provide environmentally controlled storage space for records of enduring historical and evidential value.
The Archive also commits to support the goals of the Cleveland City Council, the city administration and the citizens of the city by identifying, acquiring, and preserving these public records to ensure the availability and accessibility of these records for both present and future generations.
These resources, including blue prints, maps, and other city council documents, are available without charge to the general public. Frequent researchers include high school and college students, corporate researchers, city officials, genealogists, lawyers, developers, media and authors. The archives’ staff answer hundreds of requests each year.
About The Archive
The Cleveland City Council Archive is the repository for records of Cleveland City Council dating back to the establishment of the Township of Cleaveland in 1803. The resources, including blue prints, maps, and other city council documents, are available without charge to the general public. Frequent researchers include high school and college students, corporate researchers, city officials, genealogists, lawyers, developers, media and authors. The archives’ staff answer hundreds of requests each year.
The Archive was established with the Act of Incorporation of the Village of Cleveland on December 23, 1814.
"That it shall be the duty of the recorder to make and keep a true and accurate record of all laws and ordinances made and established, of streets laid out by the trustees, and of all their proceedings in their corporate capacity, which records shall at times be open to the inspection of every elector in said village."
For more than 180 years, first the village recorder and later the city clerk served as the “archivist.”
In 1985, the council hired its first professional archivist. The records were stored in in Cleveland City Hall in a small office. Other documents were stored in the basement.
Council Archive moves
In 2005 the archive office and all the documents were moved to a renovated space with proper environmental controls necessary to keep the paper documents from decaying.