Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Ryan McGill
Renovations for the new Walker County Archive are now underway!
This project is vital in encouraging the community to preserve the past while embracing the future.
The county initiated this project to protect public records from moisture damage at their previous location.
Currently, all records are kept in various areas of the Walker County Courthouse Annex No. 2 as they await the completion of renovations at the new archive location—the former G. May & Sons Furniture building in downtown Jasper.
The building offers over 6,000 square feet of space, making it ideal for people to gather, search records, and display their findings.
The new floor plan includes spaces for record storage and preservation, searching, clerk offices, meetings, and a window display area.
Chief Probate Clerk Jerry Davis says, “We purchased the building in January 2023. We worked with an architect and a construction company to discuss the building’s condition and do the proper demo on the inside. We want to ensure we properly reinforce the building to carry the load of all the records.”
The new archive’s floor plan blends modern design and security measures with the building’s history, reclaiming its original tin roofing and tongue-and-groove pine flooring.
Once the project is completed, citizens will have free access to all public paper records and a database of digital records available on desktops inside the building.
Public records include information such as mortgages, commercial transactions, marriage records, genealogy, land records, and Confederate pension records.
These records contain a wealth of information, and the archive’s sole purpose is to protect and preserve that history.
“We’re excited to have a place where people can freely access Walker County’s history. Because if people don’t have good access to these records, we’re in danger of losing that history,” says Probate Judge A. Lee Tucker.
Though properly enforcing the building and implementing appropriate security and preservation measures is gradual, the archive is expected to be completed within the next 18 months. WL
