Clay County Archives houses a large collection of public records in the form of bound documents and files. This collection is in generally good condition, stored in a secured, air conditioned building adjacent to the Archives Center at the Historic Triangle. The Archives Specialist will retrieve materials as researchers request them. Deeds and the Grantor/Grantee Indexes are stored in the Clerk’s Vault in the current, main courthouse located at 825 North Orange Avenue, Green Cove Springs. More recent public records maintained by the Clay County Clerk of Court and Comptroller’s Office (1958 to present) are available through online request at www.clayclerk.com. Review the list below for an overview of available records.
Available Records
The Clay County Archives was created to function as custodian of Clay County’s hard-copy public records as they transition out of modern use. Items identified as having historic significance are saved from the normal destruction schedule and moved to Archives. Our county’s first archived documents were initially housed at the original Whitesville county seat (west of the fork of Black Creek). When the county seat was moved to Green Cove Springs in April 1872, some records were lost. There is a partial gap from 1859 through 1872 in many of our records series. The Civil War and a lack of county government during those years contributed to the gap. Years later, when space at the Clay County Courthouse was limited, old records were moved to the now-abandoned Yerkes Laboratory building on Kingsley Avenue in Orange Park. Since then, the Archives Center staff took and many have been professionally restored and digitized in a series of restoration projects.
Review the lists below for an overview of available records.
Sheriff
- Jail Registers 1880’s to 1970’s
- Sheriff’s Criminal Dockets, Record of Convictions, Civil Executions 1870’s to 1950’s
- Whiskey (Moonshine) Arrests and Forfietures
- Sheriff JP Hall Sheriff’s Office Financial Records (expenditures, payroll, etc.)
- Warrants, Jail Commitments, Extraditions 1870’s to 1950’s
- Coroners Book 1949-1956
The Board of County Commissioners
- Minute Books (1872-1968)
- Supplemental Minutes Files of loose papers (1900-1979)
- Road and Bridge Petitions (1911-1944)
- Preservation Board (Historical Commission) Minutes — The recent minutes are at the Board’s website, but the Archives are the custodian of the historic minutes.
Supervisor of Elections
- Voting records from the 1860s to about 1940’s
The Courts
Generally starting from the 1870’s to the 1970’s
- Circuit Court Minute Books
- Bench Docket Circuit Court
- Motion Docket Book
- Bar Docket
- Juvenile Court (not available to the public)
- Incompetency Records (not available to the public)
- Law & Chancery Files (1859-1945)
- Probate (1859-1956)
- Wills, Guardianship, Administration, Testamentary
- Probate Court Register, Probate Progress Docket
- Inventories and Accounts in Probate
Taxes
- Tax Books 1869-1960, with indexes.
- Delinquent Tax Adjustments 1924-1952
- Intangible Personal Property Tax Registers 1960-1972;
- Land Sold For Taxes 1914-1972
- Land Taxes Past Due and Unpaid (1891-1900)
- List of Errors, Insolvencies and Double Assessments (1930-1936)
- Personal Property (1964-1966)
- Record of County Lands Aquired for Delinquent Taxes (1945-1947)
- Redeemed Tax Certificates (1905-1970)
- Report of Tax Sale Certificates (1931-1952)
- School, Road and Bridge Special Tax Assessment Registers (1934-1942)
- Tax Sale Certificates, Tax Adjustments, Cash Redemptions (1934-1942)
Board of Education
- Board of Education Minutes — Stored at the Board of Education building in Green Cove Springs, the first two years have been transcribed.
- Board of Education Payroll Books early 1900’s