The Maryland State Archives is the historical agency for Maryland and serves as the central depository for government records of permanent value. Records date from the founding of the colony in 1634 to the present. Included in the Archives’ holdings are colonial and state executive, legislative, and judicial records; county probate, land and court records; church records; business records; publications and reports of state, county and municipal governments; and special collections of private papers, maps, photographs, and newspapers.