The Montgomery County (MD) Archives

Note: Effective March 1, 2010, the Montgomery County Archives are Closed Until Further Notice.

The Montgomery County Archives have been moved by the county from the Red Brick Courthouse into storage during a structural renovation project. Although some sets of aerial photographs have been temporarily moved to the MCHS, all other records in the archives are inaccessible until the program has been re-established by the county government. No date is known for the re-opening of the County Archives at this time. A complete description of the Archives collections is no longer available online (note that the information currently published on the old Archives website is inaccurate, and that said website is not being managed or administered by MCHS). Limited access to County Archive finding aids is available at MCHS. The Montgomery County Archives are not the property of MCHS and closure of the County Archives will not affect access to MCHS library and archival collections in the Jane C. Sween Library. For more information about the closure, please call 301-340-2825.

Established on July 29, 1985, the Montgomery County Archives serves as the institutional memory of the government of Montgomery County, Maryland. The Archives is a repository for permanent records of historical or evidential value created or received by the County government in the course of its business activities. The Archives identifies, acquires, organizes, describes, and preserves historic records of the Montgomery County Government. The Montgomery County Historical Society has been administering the Archives in a reduced capacity since July 2003.
A complete description of the Archives collections is no longer available online. Limited access to the County Archive's finding aids is available at MCHS.

Aerial Photograph Research:
For aerial photograph researchers, digital images of the Archives 1951, 1970 and 1970 series of aerial photographs are available online at: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/gistmpl.asp. These images can be viewed and printed from anywhere that has Internet access. Other aerial photographs and orthographic photos from 1993 to 2002 are available there as well. The Archives has three series of aerial photographs that are not online and can only be accessed by visiting in person: 1937-1944, 1957 and 1963. Please note: The aerial photographs are available at the MCHS Jane C. Sween Library.