Thanks to a state grant, Washington County will be able to digitally preserve thousands of documents that date back over 100 years. Spectrum News reporter Matt Hunter has the story.

FORT EDWARD, N.Y. – With a rapidly growing cache of public records, the Washington County government is going digital. The county clerk's office recently received a more than $120,000 state grant to purchase the equipment and software necessary to digitize the county's archives.It will also cover the cost of one new full-time staff member.

With many documents dating back to the early 18-hundreds, the clerk's office has already run out of room in its main storage area, which also houses archives for the county court, tax and other departments.

By storing the records digitally, county clerk Stephanie Lemery says they will be able to improve efficiency and preserve history.

"We have a lot of genealogy that is done in the county, plus we have a lot of back research on different pieces of property,” Lemery said Monday. “We can still get that information out there but secure the original documents."

Once the new computers and scanners are setup, the digitizing process is scheduled to begin in September. Lemery expects it to take up to a decade to complete.