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Resources
Be sure to also view our Lookups page!
| Government | Historians | Museums | Books | Newspapers |
County Clerk
The County Clerk has many documents of interest to genealogists including, but not limited to, Deeds and Mortgages, Naturalizations (1854-present), and some Vital Statistics and some Military Records. Please note, NYS counties were not required by the state to keep vital records until 1880. Most of these records are kept with the Town Clerk, but in some counties, the County Clerk also has a copy of some of the more recent vital records and sometimes some older vital records (prior to 1880). Also see Misc. Records of the Hamilton County Clerk's Office.
County Clerk
102 County View Drive, P.O. Box 204
Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108
(518) 548-7111 or 548-6204
Town Clerks may also have information of interest to genealogists, especially older Vital Statistics and Military Records.
Town Clerks
| Town/Village | Address | Clerk | Phone # |
| Town of Arietta | PO Box 37 Piseco, N.Y. 12139 | Kenneth F. Parslow | (518) 548-7321 |
| Town of Benson | 2213 Co. Hwy. 6 PO Box 100 Northville, N.Y. 12134-0100 | Judy Webber | (518) 863-6904 |
| Town of Hope | P.O. Box 1312 Northville, N.Y. 12134 | Marlene Dunham | (518) 924-7308 |
| Town of Indian Lake | P.O. Box 730 Indian Lake, N.Y. 12842 | Julie A. Clawson | (518) 648-5211 |
| Town of Inlet | PO Box 179 Inlet, N.Y. 13360 | Patty Wittmeyer | (315) 357-5771 |
| Town of Lake Pleasant | PO Box 799 Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108 | Deborah O'Rourke | (518) 548-3625 |
| Town of Long Lake | 1130 Deerland Rd PO Box 307 Long Lake, N.Y. 12847 | Dixie Lee LeBlanc | (518) 624-3088 |
| Town of Morehouse | PO Box 59 Hoffmeister, N.Y., 13353 | Amanda Seeley | (315) 826-7509 |
| Town of Wells | P.O. Box 205 Wells, N.Y. 12190 | Mari Wilson | (518) 924-7911 |
| Village of Speculator | Village Hall Elm Lake Road P.O. Box 396 Speculator, NY 12164 | Bonnie J. Page | 518) 548-7354 |
Area Zip Codes
| Amsterdam | 12010 | Lake Pleasant | 12108 |
| Blue Mountain Lake | 12812 | Long Lake | 12847 |
| Cold Brook | 13324 | Northville | 12134 |
| Eagle Bay | 13331 | Piseco | 12139 |
| Gloversville | 12078 | Raquette Lake | 13436 |
| Hoffmeister | 13353 | Sabael | 12864 |
| Indian Lake | 12842 | Speculator | 12164 |
| Inlet | 13360 | Wells | 12190 |
| Johnstown | 12095 |
Surrogate Court
The Surrogate Court maintains jurisdiction over all actions and proceedings relating to the affairs of decedents, probate of wills, administration of estates and guardianship of the property of minors. Please note that in the 1980s some of the Surrogate Court records were being stored in Indian Lake as there wasn't enough room in the County Court House. I do not know if this is still the case today, or not.
Surrogate Court
Court House
Lake Pleasant, N.Y. 12108
(518) 548-7911
Town and Village Courts
| Court | Address | Telephone |
| Arietta Town Court | Old Piseco Road PO Box 4 Piseco, NY 12139 | 518-548-6203 |
| Benson Town Court | 291 River Road Northville, NY 12134 | 518-863-8510 |
| Hope Town Court | Town Hall, Star Route Northville, NY 12134 | 518-924-2663 |
| Indian Lake Town Court | Town Hall, Pelon Road Indian Lake, NY 12842 | 518-648-6226 |
| Inlet Town Court | Town Office, Box 136 Inlet, NY 13360 | 315-357-6121 |
| Lake Pleasant Town Court | Box 136 Speculator, NY 12164 | 518-548-3625 |
| Long Lake Town Court | Town Hall, PO Box 112 Long Lake, NY 12847 | None |
| Morehouse Town Court | ----- Hoffmeister, NY 13353 | None |
| Wells Town Court | Community Hall PO Box 405 Wells, NY 12190 | 518-924-9285 |
Hamilton County Historian
Bill Zullo / Hamilton County Historian
102 County View Drive
Lake Pleasant, NY 12108
historian@HamiltonCountyNY.gov
(518) 548-5526
Town/Village Historians
| Town/Village | Town/Village Historian | Address |
| Town of Arietta | no historian | |
| Town of Benson | no historian | |
| ***Town of Hope | Clara King | 755 NYS Route 30 Northville, NY 12134 (518) 924-2498 clarankitkat@yahoo.com |
| Town of Indian Lake | William Zullo | Town Historian Indian Lake, N.Y. 12842 (518) 648-5377 Indian Lake NY - A History |
| Town of Inlet | Letty Hayes | (518) 357-4328 |
| Town of Lake Pleasant | Annie Weaver | Town of Lake Pleasant HCI Box 10 Route 8 Lake Pleasant, NY 12108 (518) 548-4478 weaverf5@frontiernet.net |
| Town of Long Lake | Jeanne F. Plumley | Town Historian Town of Long Lake Long Lake, NY 12847 |
| Town of Morehouse | Carol Ford | Town Historian P.O. Box 1 Hoffmeister, NY 13353 (315) 826-5764 |
| Town of Wells | Leona Aird | Town Historian P.O. Box 97 Wells, NY 12190 (518) 924-2535 |
| Village of Raquette Lake | James Kammer | Village Historian Antlers Road Raquette Lake, NY 13436 (315) 354-5122 |
| Village of Speculator | Beverly Hoffman | Village of Speculator Historian P.O. Box 44 Speculator, NY 12164 (518) 548-5325 pashorty@capital.net |
***Please know that all records of this town before 1900 were destroyed in a fire in a Town Clerk's home. Effort is being made to try to gather information, but as you can imagine, it is a daunting process, at best! | ||
Museums
| The Indian Lake Museum (Town Museum) | Located on the corner of West Main St. [routes 28/30] and Crow Hill Road, next to the school. The house was built ca.1865 by Allen Brooks, who had returned from the Civil War. He lived there with his wife, Annis Smith. Hours: July - Oct, Tue. & Thur., 1 - 4, and Friday 7 - 9p.m. |
| Adirondack Museum Library | Route 30 Note: The Library will make microfilmed materials available thru interlibrary loan. |
| Morehouse Historical Museum (Town Museum) | Located on rt 8 in the village of Hoffmeister in the old Methodist church which was closed in 1989 for services. In 1999 it was re-opened as our History museum to hold/display our history records and pictures, etc. We had over 200 people visit last year, and we are looking forward to opening this year. Hours: Late June to Labor Day weekend; Sat. & Sun. from 11:00 to 3:00. |
Book List
for Hamilton County
| Title | Author | Publishing Info | Comments |
| Lake Pleasant and Speculator in the Adirondacks | Anne Weaver, Beverly Hoffman | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial history |
| Piseco Lake and Arietta | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial history | |
| Indian Lake, Hamilton County | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial historyt | |
| Along the Adirondack Trail | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial history | |
| Adirondack Hotels and Inns | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial history | |
| Adirondack Ventures | Arcadia Publishing | Images of America series, a pictorial history | |
| Long Lake [1845] | John Todd | Purple Mountain Press, 1997 originally published, 1845 | Few individual names given but lots of info about how the early settlers lived. A copy is available on microfilm at the Onondaga County Public Lib. in Syracuse |
| Sesquicentennial of the Town of Arietta, Hamilton County, New York. | Prepared by the Historical Book Committee. | 1986 | A copy is available at the NYS Public Library in Albany |
| Hamilton County, New York, genealogical research secrets | Loren V. Fay | Albany, NY, 1981 (17 leaves) | A copy is available at the NYS Public Library in Albany |
| Township 34; a history with digressions of an Adirondack township in Hamilton County in the State of New York. | Harold K. Hochschild | 1952 | copies available at the NYS Public Library in Albany and through the Mid-York Library System |
| Life at an Adirondack inn : the story of one hundred years of the Irondequoit Club Inn and its owner, the Piseco Company : the Piseco Company centennial, 1892-1992. | The Irondequoit Club Inn | 1992 | |
| A history of South Pond and origin of Long Lake Township | Howard I. Becker | 1963? | |
| A backward look at 6th and 7th Lakes : commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Sixth and Seventh Lakes Improvement Association (1939-1989) | Robert A. Maloney. | 1989 | A copy is available at the Old Forge Library |
| The quiet years / by Minnie Patterson Stanyon ; with illustrations by Mildred Stanyon Colvin. | Stanyon, Minnie Patterson, 1873-1963. | [Speculator, N. Y. : s.n.] c1994, 1965. | Description of life in Newton's Corners, later Speculator, N.Y. - personal narrative. |
| An old time inn; Blue Mt. House | Edited by A. S. Knight. | Adirondack Museum. 1972 | copies available through the Mid-York Library System |
| Griffin, ghost town in the Adirondacks : and other tales | Ouida Girard | 1981 | A copy is available at the Old Forge Library |
| The New York wilderness : Hamilton County and adjoining territory (map) | compiled by B. C. Butler. | Albany, N.Y. : Weed, Parsons & Co., 1879 | A copy is available at the Utica Public Library |
| Calked shoes : life in Adirondack lumber camps | Barbara Kephart Bird ; photos by Royal G. Bird | Prospect, N. Y. : Prospect Books, 1952. | copies available through the Mid-York Library System |
| Raquette Lake - A Time to Remember | Ruth Timm | 150 pgs, 1989 | |
| Morehouse Past and Present 1835-1992 | Carol Ford / Town of Morehouse Historian | 1992 | copies available thru Carol |
| Tree Talks: see our Tree talks Hamilton County Subject Index for details | A quarterly magazine published by Central New York Genealogical Society, Syracuse, NY | ||
| Adirondack Museum History Book List (a link) | books on local and Adirondack history offered by the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake | ||
| Check our Lookups page for these books and other available resources offered by our volunteers. | |||
Newspapers
Although Hamilton county has had a few papers published the county over the years, there are other newspapers outside the county that have carried news of our residents. From my own experience, I know that the Boonville and Herkimer papers tended to carry news about Morehouse families and the Amsterdam and Fulton papers tended to carry news about Hope, Benson, Wells and sometimes Lake Pleasant families. So don't limit yourself to searching for these papers to find obituaries or other articles about our county!
Two wonderful online resources for newspapers are:
http://www.fultonhistory.com/ for central NY newspapers and many others
http://news.nnyln.net/ for Northern NY Historical Newspapers
| Years | Freq. | Name | Started by | Printed at< |
| 1845-???? | weekly | Hamilton County Sentinel | Walter N. Clark Cyrus Thayer | Johnstown |
| c1845-???? | ? | The Hamilton County Journal | George M. Thompson | Gloversville |
| c1845-???? | ? | The Hamilton County Republican | George M. Thompson | Gloversville |
| 1873-???? | weekly | Hamilton County Press | George W. Heaton | Hope |
| 1892-???? | weekly | Hamilton County Democrat | Charles E. Watson | Wells |
| 1876-1947 | weekly | Adirondack Herald | Joel B. Morrison | Wells |
| 1893-1947 | weekly | Hamilton County Record | D. L. Patterson | Wells |
| 1947-present | weekly | Hamilton County News | ? | Inlet |
| 1960-1968 | bi-weekly | Indian Lake Bulletin | ? | Indian Lake |
Sources:
NYS Newspaper Project
History of Hamilton County
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