Colonial and Revolutionary Governments

The New York State Archives holds the surviving administrative records of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and the British colony of New York. Most of the Dutch colonial records survived the New York State Capitol building fire of 1911. Many have been digitized and made available, along with accompanying translations, on the State Archives website. British colonial administrative records fared far worse and were extensively damaged or destroyed in the 1911 fire, but British colonial land title and probate records survive today intact.

 

Records of the Provincial Congress, New York’s governing body from April 1775 until the establishment of a constitutional state government in 1777, were also heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the 1911 fire. Fortunately, the manuscript journals and many other documents compiled by the Provincial Congress were transcribed and published prior to the fire.