Thanks for the update. Are the archives located in Clarksville? At 11:52 AM 8/13/2005 -0500, you wrote: >WOW!!!!----that about sums it up for anyone that doesn't want to read this >message! > >For the past 5 years, we have seen the Montgomery County Archives be moved >from one warehouse to another so many times we didn't know where we'd find >them next. After my visit a few days ago, I have a lot more confidence in >my elected officials and their desire for the "Department of Records >Preservation" to be one of the best anywhere! > >I stopped by the Montgomery County Archives one afternoon this past week. >It was 3:50 and I hoped to catch Jill taking a break from this latest >move. I know she and her staff must be tired and I didn't want to >interrupt her. I was lucky----it was close enough to closing time that >Jill was alone so I had a chance to talk to her for a few minutes. >When we finished our conversation, it was closing time. Jill asked if I >had time to see the new facilities-----she was as excited to show it off >as I was to see it! She locked the door and took me on the "grand tour"! > >It's not going to happen over-night. There's a LOT of work to be >done---over 200 years of records to get back out of the boxes and onto the >shelves. There isn't a "warehouse" atmosphere anywhere in the place >although there are several large rooms for various collections. This >place has been very well planned and organized. There is room for >receiving, a room for cataloging-----even a room for microfilming. >(Yes, eventually they will be able to do their own microfilming!) > >I will ask everyone's patience. While I've actually seen this place and >the boxes upon boxes of materials that have to be catalogued and put back >on the shelves, I can only imagine the work that lies ahead for Jill and >her staff. There are a lot of projects that have been started but Jill >has had to put them on hold once again in order to complete this move. > >If you've requested research, it might take a while! I'm not talking a >few hundred boxes. There are more like a few hundred pallets of boxes >still with shrink-wrap holding them together so they won't get misplaced. > >Box upon box, pallet after pallet----room after room! But you know what, >I'd bet before long, those pallets will be "history"----the kind Jill will >have photos/journals of. > >If you have research to do in Montgomery County, plan next year's vacation >now! I promise you will love this place----except for one thing. Since >I'm also sending this message to Doug Weiland (County Mayor), maybe they >might figure out a way of putting a public restroom nearby! > >Sandy Ellis