We do not have newspapers. We do have a collection of scrapbooks from the Albany Police Department 1888-1954 which contains clippings of local events related to the Police Department.

For more information on the Albany Times Union, visit their archives here.

The New York State Library also has information on older newspapers.

Albany County does not keep files on its citizens.

Specific County departments may have records on certain individuals. For example, the County Clerk's office has records of civil and criminal court cases; the fee to search these records is $5 for each name for every 2 years searched.

Records held by County departments are available through the Freedom of Information ("FOIL") process. Click here for more information about filing a FOIL request.

You may also want to try one of the many person-finders on the Internet such as Google.

Contact the Tax Assessor's Office in the municipality where the property is located.

In the City of Albany, the Assessor is in City Hall and the phone number is (518) 434-5155.

Often someone will say that a particular record is filed “in Albany” when what he means to say is that the record is filed with “New York State government in Albany.”

The Hall of Records holds records for the County and City of Albany only.

Contact the Police Department of the municipality where the accident took place.

Note that in rural areas of Albany County, the County Sheriff's Department or the New York State Police may have been the responding agency. The phone number for the Albany County Sheriff's Department is (518) 487-5400.

The Hall of Records holds marriage records from 1870-1954 for the City of Albany.

For a more recent record from the City of Albany, contact the City Clerk's Office in City Hall at (518) 434-5090.

In New York State, marriage licenses are issued only by city and town clerks, and the marriage did not have to take place in that city or town.

If you don't know which city or town clerk issued the marriage license, the best solution is to contact the New York State Health Department.

Birth and death certificates are held by the local registrar of vital statistics in the city, town, or village where the event took place.

For a birth or death that took place in the city of Albany, contact (518) 434-5045 or click here to visit their website.

Birth and death records are also filed with the New York State Health Department.

You need to contact the Social Security Administration.

The local office is in the Leo O'Brien Federal Building in Albany, and the phone number is 1 (800) 772-1213.

Click here to find them online.

Often someone will say that a particular record is filed “in Albany” when what he means to say is that the record is filed with “New York State government in Albany,” in this case the New York State Department of State.  Their phone number for notaries is (518) 474-4429.

Notary records for Notaries in the County of Albany are available at the County Clerk's Office, County Court House, Room 128, 16 Eagle Street, Albany, NY 12207-1077, (518) 487-5101.

Divorce records are filed in the office of the county clerk where the divorce proceeding occurred.

The actual records are sealed and only available to the original parties or their attorneys. However, a "Certificate of Disposition" showing the result of the divorce can be purchased by anyone.

The Albany County Clerk is located at Albany County Clerk, County Court House, Room 128, 16 Eagle Street, Albany NY 12207-1077.

The fee to search these records is $5 for each name for every 2 years searched.

Deeds and mortgages for Albany County are recorded at the County Clerk's Office, County Court House, Room 128, 16 Eagle Street, Albany NY 12207-1077, telephone (518) 487-5101.

Our Deeds & Mortgages Online website provides images of documents from 1980 to the present: click here to get started. (Please note corporate deeds are not available.)

The County Clerk's Office holds records for the Supreme and County Courts.

The Albany County Clerk is located at the Albany County Court House, Room 128, 16 Eagle Street, Albany NY 12207-1077. The phone number is (518) 487-5100.

Family Court records are in the custody of Family Court located at 30 Clinton Avenue. The phone number is (518) 285-8600.

Probate records are in the Surrogate's Court of each county.

Albany County Surrogate Court is located at the Albany County Court House, 16 Eagle Street, Room 123, Albany, NY 12207-1077. The front of the building is not open and you must go around to the back of the building on Lodge Street to enter. Their phone number is (518) 285-8585.