A significant change to the operation of the Deseronto Archives will be happening in September 2016, as we are moving the collection into the new Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County in Belleville. From September 12th, the Archives will be available for research in Belleville.
This increases the availability of the collection, which will now be open to the public from Monday to Thursday, 9.30 to 12 and 1 to 4pm instead of the limited hours we have been open in Deseronto.
The Town of Deseronto was the first municipality in Hastings County to provide a staffed archive service, back in 1997. Now it is joining the City of Belleville and the County of Hastings in taking advantage of the facilities of the new Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County. There our local records will be kept in climate-controlled conditions in a brand-new facility.
Amanda Hill, the Deseronto archivist, has also relocated to the new archives at Belleville, which will provide a continuity of care for the Deseronto materials and knowledge of their contents.
This website will continue to be updated with news from the Deseronto First World War project, and Deseronto Archives images will remain available from our Flickr account.
The email address to contact the Archives is now archives@cabhc.ca and you can also call 613-967-3304.
Grateful thanks are owed to Frances Smith and all the staff at Deseronto Public Library for providing a home for the Deseronto Archives, and also to the Deseronto Archives Board and the Corporation of the Town of Deseronto for their support of the Archives over the past 20 years and their continued dedication to the service as it enters this new phase.
Deseronto Archives 
August 22, 2016 at 7:47 pm
what is the address in Belleville for the archives?
August 23, 2016 at 8:21 am
The address is 254 Pinnacle Street (the Community Archives is housed on the second floor of the Belleville Public Library).
September 23, 2016 at 11:49 pm
how very sad to hear of our DEseronto Archives being moved t o Belleville. I am sure that the old history of Deseronto will remain in a protected vault,but i am not sure that any recent history will be recorded as not everyone has access to internet and most people who have any history of our town will not be going to Belleville,this is Deseronto history and it should be recorded in Deseronto.
September 26, 2016 at 8:45 am
Hello Bev and thanks for taking the time to comment. We are encouraging people to continue bring materials in to the Library in Deseronto for the Archives. They will then be collected by the Archivist or transferred by the Librarian to Belleville, so they don’t have to go to Belleville to drop materials off.
I should note that the Archives Room in Deseronto had no space to grow the collection (the shelves there were all full), whereas the new facility in Belleville has plenty of room for expansion.
The Belleville location also already holds quite a lot of Deseronto material (particularly in the Hastings County records), and I’m pleased to report that the collections from the Deseronto Archives are already being used and appreciated by visitors to the Community Archives, where they are now available for 22 hours a week.
We are also continuing to digitize the Deseronto records and make them available online to people who are unable to visit the archives for themselves.
If you get a chance to visit the Community Archives, I would love to give you a tour of the new facility and show you the new home for the Deseronto Archives.
September 26, 2016 at 1:01 pm
Thank you for replying Amanda. I do understand,but as you know my town is very important to me,and we have lost so many amenities here and it is sad. i wish you well in your new position. We do miss miss you at our afternoon tea break. Bev.
September 29, 2016 at 3:40 pm
I miss you and Marion, too!