Putnam County, New York, May 2022 – This year marks the 200th anniversary of an official structure to house the office and records of the Putnam County Clerk.

In 1822, the Legislature authorized the building of a fireproof county clerk's office for $750. This first official county-owned office was a small one-story brick building, erected south of the courthouse, near the north end of Lake Gleneida. Before that time, the office of the county clerk was, well… wherever the clerk resided!

According to the papers of the late historian Willitt C. Jewell, located in the Putnam County Historian’s Collection, by 1871, the county supervisors gave Thaddeus R. Ganong, of Mahopac, the contract to build a new fireproof building for the County Clerk's and Surrogate's Offices for $10,000. This was a three-story structure (pictured here) made of stone quarried north of Lake Gilead. The County Clerk occupied the ground floor, the Surrogate the second floor and the Supervisors the third floor.

The front section of today’s three-story County office building was built of brick and trimmed with Indiana limestone in 1911. Although many additions and changes have been made over the years, the Putnam County Clerk’s Office remains on the same historic site, 200 years later.

Save the Date! For more great history on Putnam County plan on joining the Historian’s Office for “Celebrate Putnam”, June 12—19th, for a pop-up photo gallery at Spain Cornerstone, Carmel, in honor of Putnam County Day. This year marks the 210th anniversary of Putnam’s founding on June 12, 1812. This special exhibit will feature historic images from the Willitt C. Jewell Collection, part of the Historian’s Collection. For more information call 845-808-1420 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Picture caption: A late 19th century image of the Putnam County Clerk’s Office; Willitt C. Jewell Collection, HC512, part of the Putnam County Historian’s Collection