County commissioners still want to find another place to safely archive all of the historical documents stored at the Lincoln County Courthouse, in the building's basement as well as its attic.

Lincoln County historian and researcher Jay Robbins has volunteered to help in this effort and spoke with commissioners during an April 2 meeting.

Deeds Register Rebecca Wotton approached commissioners earlier this year to see what could be done to protect original historic documents, how they should be handled and where else they could be stored.

“I wasn't really comfortable with the way we've been handling things,” Wotton said, alluding to a concern of commissioners about theft and the mishandling of original documents that are falling apart at the edges and seams. “I think it would be great if we found a place so that people could have better access.”

She was referring not to deeds maps, but to old court cases, probate records, newspapers and other historical documents stored in the courthouse vault in the building's basement.

Robbins said Lincoln County is unique in that it is the only county in the state that still retains court cases; all other counties send theirs to the state for archiving.

“You've got a fair amount of documents in the vault taking up room that are not being looked at, except by people like me,” he said. He recommended the old newspaper editions and other documents unrelated to deeds work be stored together in a place where more people could access them.

The conversation between commissioners, Administrator John O'Connell, Robbins and others in the meeting indicated they would like to find a temperature-controlled room for these documents that could be monitored by staff or volunteers.

Robbins volunteered to help write applications for a number of grant opportunities available that could help pay for costs associated with archiving not only the documents located in the basement, but also some 340 boxes of courthouse material stored in the attic.