Historians call this a treasure chest
and this the treasure here is
everything anyone could ever want to know
about Tarrant County, for instance, who
got married in 1897.
The paper is very brittle just from old
age. Soon, all 30000
volumes will have to go across
the street to this old building.
The records have to move out of the old
courthouse when remodelers move in.
But the Tarrant County Historical Society
believes this building is a firetrap
that could wipe out the county's history.
I've heard all of my life, ever
since I've been in practice.
You can read about
the courthouse far 1876
and what it did.
The fire destroyed the old courthouse
and all the records in it.
Tarrant County had to rebuild, but
luckily there were copies of many records
the county lost.
Since 1967, Tarrant County
has been microfilming its records, which
means there are two copies of each.
But that leaves 90 years of records
with one copy only.
The county clerk is worried about moving
the records, since many of these volumes
have seen better days.
He says they are absolutely necessary
to close any real estate transaction.
So it's not just historians that are
worried. Real estate buyers
and sellers also have a lot
at stake, like Channel
5 Action News, Fort Worth.