The Maine State Archives launched a new online platform on Oct. 1 that gives the public expanded digital access to state government records spanning nearly five centuries.
The new Open Access platform provides public access to digitized and born-digital records and is part of a broader state effort to preserve archival records and those subject to long-term retention, according to a press release from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
Open Access currently includes more than 100,000 imaged records, according to the announcement. The Maine State Archives’ full collection spans from a 1639 royal land grant to Sir Ferdinand Gorges through the 2024 papers of the Lewiston Tragedy Commission.
“From the beginning, I have been committed to improving efficiency and modernizing our systems to benefit Mainers and streamline access,” Bellows said. “Open Access will provide improved government transparency in a user-friendly platform that will be continuously expanded as more and more collections are imaged.”
The Maine State Archives maintains approximately 8 miles of official state records considered permanently valuable, including legislative bills, election returns, land records, vital statistics, court records, and military records.
The new platform allows users to search the full text of available records or explore materials through lists, timelines, galleries, and maps. Records are organized into collections covering areas including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; social history; land, maps, and natural resources; military history; elections and statehood; government administration; and photographs and images.
A portion of Open Access focuses specifically on Maine history before statehood in 1820. Those holdings include Revolutionary War land grants and the Rolls and Rosters Book of Orders for the 8th Division of the Maine Militia. The archives also hold extensive records documenting Maine’s involvement in the Civil War.
The digital platform also includes records from the 1819 Constitutional Convention, Maine’s original state constitution, and a letter from President James Monroe informing Maine that it had been admitted to the Union. Other collections include county and municipal election results dating from 1819 to 1988.
State officials said digitizing the archives’ full physical holdings will be a long-term undertaking.
“With more than 8 miles of documents in the Archives care, there is a long way to go to digitize them all, but it’s a great start,” Maine State Archivist Christian Cotz said. “We’re excited to continue to add records to the platform and provide Mainers from students to researchers with even more to discover each time they visit the site.”
