By Robert King -- Daily Staff Writer

FRONT ROYAL — The Warren County Heritage Society's archive vault is bursting at the seams.

So to be able to keep taking in documents chronicling the county's history, the heritage society, on Chester Street in Front Royal, is expanding its archive area.

The archives space was built in 1987 and is attached to Belle Boyd's cottage behind the heritage society's main building.

The archives hold historical documents, including books dating back to the 1690s, and ledgers and maps from different eras, mainly received through donations.

The archives also include deeds signed in the 1700s by Thomas, Lord Fairfax, an English nobleman who once owned 5 million acres throughout Virginia and other areas. Fairfax, who owned land throughout the Northern Shenandoah Valley, once employed a young George Washington as a surveyor.

The archives are primarily stored in a windowless vault, and open to members of the public and researchers who must be supervised by an archivist.

The vault is full, and society officials worry about having space for future donations.

"It would be failing in our mission if the day came where we would ever have to say to a potential donor 'I am very sorry, but we can't accept your collection because we don't have the room,'" said Patrick Farris, the society's executive director.

The crammed vault could also create accessibility problems for researchers, Farris said.

"If it's not accessible, then that's the next worst thing to material actually being destroyed," he said. "If it's not accessible, what good is it doing anybody?"

The addition is being built behind the archive area, and would double the current space.

Once completed, all documents will be moved to a larger vault. The current vault will be converted into a reading room, Farris said.

The heritage society began design plans for the expansion last fall. Construction began in May.

The society hopes to have the lion's share of construction complete by the Festival of Leaves this October, Farris said.

The society held a fundraising campaign in 2006 to help pay for the construction.

Even though the campaign raised enough to cover the construction, which is estimated to cost roughly $160,000, more funds are needed to furnish the archive, Farris said.

"It's not just the structure and certain elements that become expensive," he said. "We need professionally made and appropriate archival storage materials and shelving to be put into the archive."

Such materials include map cases to preserve old maps.

The vault must also be climate-controlled to preserve the materials. Farris said the two enemies of preserving historical documents are ultraviolet radiation and moisture or humidity.

"In order to prevent an excess of either, it is better to store archive materials in an environment that is cool, and does not have the exposure of direct sunlight," Farris said.

Society officials hope the new vault will attract numerous researchers to study Warren County's history.

"Here you never know what you are going to discover," said assistant archivist Jim Heflin.

* Contact Robert King at rking@nvdaily.com