West Jersey Proprietors Deposit

In early December 2005, the Council of Proprietors of West New Jersey formally deposited its vast collection of land surveys, minute and account books, and maps with the State Archives. The collection, spanning three centuries of land distribution in the western half of New Jersey, was previously maintained in the Surveyor General’s Office on Broad Street in Burlington, NJ. However, without staff and other resources, the Proprietors were able to make the archive available to researchers only on a limited basis.

Under the depository agreement, the State Archives will now care for the archive and administer public access to it. The Council retains legal ownership of the documents, though the deposit is intended to be long-term (i.e., indefinite). The agreement authorizes the State Archives staff to make professional determinations relating to the arrangement and description (i.e., cataloging and indexing) of the records, reformatting (i.e., microfilming and/or imaging) priorities, and decisions as to whether to allow researchers to use original materials depending upon the condition and level of inventory of specific documents or groups of documents.

On December 14th, the Council of Proprietors and the State Archives celebrated the deposit of the West Jersey archive with a press event and exhibition unveiling selected manuscripts. For more information on the collection, the State Archives’ access policy and the exhibition, please click on the links below.