At 31 Chambers Street, there’s a treasure chest.

It’s filled with 220,000 cubic feet of “gems” that tell the story of our city’s centuries-old past.

Maps. Photographs. Film spools. Birth, death and marriage certificates. Books from 1645, penned in Dutch with the letters faded and pages frayed.

They’re all part of the Municipal Archives, a vast collection housed inside what was once the Hall of Records, but is now the Surrogate’s Courthouse.

New York Today: Treasures of Chambers Street
New York Times
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