{"id":7027,"date":"2025-12-02T09:31:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=7027"},"modified":"2025-12-02T09:31:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:31:46","slug":"counties-restore-old-deed-books-to-preserve-centuries-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/counties-restore-old-deed-books-to-preserve-centuries-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Counties Restore Old Deed Books to Preserve Centuries of History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. history can be traced through generations of property deeds. Embracing that knowledge, many deed recorders\u2019 offices are working behind the scenes to preserve deed books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The books contain old plat maps, mineral rights records, and the deeds to homes \u2014 thousands upon thousands of beautiful, handwritten documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Handling East Texas Deeds With Care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Upshur County has a fully digitized office of deed records. Deeds and maps, recorded rights and claims from the early days in East Texas \u2014 they\u2019re all indexed, and fully searchable online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what about the stuff that\u2019s old and papery, dating all the way back to the early 1840s? It\u2019s about time these old books receive the respect they deserve. Some of them have done time in the old county courthouse jail!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now, they lead a cushier life. This is because the county recently paid more than $100K to create a record storage building. And now, with the restoration of the Upshur County Courthouse due for completion in early 2026, books will have dignified space to spend the years ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The environment will be safely maintained. To keep books in good shape over generations, the relative humidity must not go above 55%, or drop below 30%. Temperatures should be kept below 75F. \u201cEven slight changes in temperature can double the natural aging rate of paper,\u201d according to restoration experts at Dallas-based Kofile, Inc. \u201cRed inks smear first, then blue inks, and lastly, black inks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upshur County Clerk Terri Ross told KLTV news viewers<\/a> about the preservation task. A reporter gently turned the pages of an older book filled with beautiful cursive writing. The books created in later years are typewritten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will cost $3,000 to $5,000 per book (some have around 200 pages). The complete preservation project would cost about $51K, as quoted in July 2025 by Kofile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work started off with a shipment to Kofile\u2019s restoration lab, where each restoration is a months-long job. Each volume is then kept in an acid-free sleeve, and bound in materials that resist fire, water, moisture, and the effects of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Grant County, Oregon\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Canyon City, Clerk Laurie Cates has begun the work of restoring old books full of deeds. The goal is to have a collection of restored history that all may explore. The earliest deeds were created in 1864.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant County Court held a meeting in November, where Cates said the spiral-bound, original deed index was coming apart on account of age. Cates did some looking into archive and book restoration options in the area, and zeroed in on an Oklahoma company named Sutterfield Technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A restoration expert from Sutterfield Technologies visited Canyon City and examined the courthouse documents. The quote to preserve the full collection came in just below $8,000. Work on an early group of documents was scheduled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county packed the documents into containers, locked them, and shipped them off to Oklahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restoration experts did their magic. Two volumes were created out of the original book. (The process of covering restored paper in clear sleeves makes the books bigger.) Cates told the Blue Mountain Eagle<\/em> these newly preserved deed books will last another 500 years. And during the restoration process, book pages were scanned, so Grant County would get digitized copies as well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county has five more books of deeds in need of preservation. Books bound with string will be the costliest to restore. In the interest of finances, the county has selected books with clean pages for rebinding first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rockingham County, Virginia Spruces Up Its Law Library<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Rockingham County Circuit Court has put a $21,446 grant from the Circuit Court Records Preservation Program to good use. The money has enabled the restoration of four books full of deeds dating back hundreds of years. This is part of $1 million in grants from Virginia that the Rockingham County Circuit Court has tapped for the maintenance of its historical library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county chose Kofile, the Dallas book preservation company, to carry out the latest batch of work. Most recently, the county clerk\u2019s office has overseen the repair and fortification of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n