While we truly appreciate the community's long-standing commitment to providing CCHA with objects for its collections, we cannot accept every donation to the archives. Donations are rigorously considered for inclusion in our collections based on the relevance, significance, and unique nature of the object(s) in question. As such, and owing to a recent influx of unsolicited donations, please see the following update to CCHA's official collections policy: material donations sent by mail or left at our offices without prior approval will not be accepted. Please contact our Curator before considering making a donation: archives@clarkehistory.org.

A large portion of our archives is available to search online. Hosted by Re:Discovery Online, this site allows you to view detailed descriptions of documents as well as view thousands of photographs from our collection. Simply click the Search Our Archives button to the right to begin.

Our goal is to make our archive as accessible as possible to researchers. Researchers can also call upon the extensive knowledge of our Curator of Archives and Exhibitions, Dana Getka. For research requests, she can be reached at archives@clarkehistory.org or by calling 540-955-2600.  In order to view archive materials, you must schedule an appointment with the Curator of Archives and Exhibitions.

The Clarke County Historical Association boasts an extensive collection of documents and memorabilia acquired over many years, often donated by generous local residents. Church and burial records, historical photographs, newspaper files, maps, drawings, and other material create a rich resource for those researching local history and genealogy.

Want to read more about Clarke’s rich history?  Now you can from anywhere!  We have a wide range of digitized publications from our Archive available to read online at no cost.  These publications include ledgers, high school yearbooks, church records, past issues of our annual publication Proceedings, and more.  Click the button below to visit our digital publication page, and be sure to check back often as we add more content!

In 2004, the Clarke County Historical Association began planning a new and exciting museum experience for visitors to our headquarters in Berryville. On November 19, 2009, the vision of our late president, Roger Chavez, became a reality.

Designed around the unifying theme “Our Land Is Our Legacy,” state of the art museum displays and specially commissioned art work allow us to share our collection in a way that is both educational and entertaining.

Artifacts on display in the museum’s two rooms include the money chest from the Greenway Court land office of Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax; a Chinese punch basin that once belonged to 18th century plantation owner Nathaniel Burwell; racing silks from Audley Farm; and a former enslaved person's corn-cutting knife from a home in Josephine City.

Thanks to your generous support, we now have all issues of the Clarke Courier digitized through 2007.  This was the primary newspaper after the Civil War for Clarke County and is a valuable resource for historic research.  These records are keyword searchable as well.  (Note: these records are not searchable using Firefox.)

Please check out these great resources for further newspaper research:

The People's Journal (Clarke County Black Newspaper) 1899-1927