North Haverhill, New Hampshire – Grafton County Registry of Deeds has been recognized with a 2025 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The awards honor innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents. The project was awarded under the arts, culture and historic preservation category.
The three-prong plan was developed in response to the ARPA primary goals and guidelines of protection of public health and public employee health. The first process was the professional scanning by US Imaging of the years of written records 1870-1930, which had not been scanned into the digital database. The second step was the development of two copies of microfilm from the now complete digital data base of 1774-2023. The third step was the professional restoration of our historic plan books by industry leader, Kofile. From this final process, fresh images were rescanned into our now complete database which is comprised of close to six million digitized images.
Register Monahan said “Grafton County is prime for development and now all interested parties have internet access to these records which will save on time, cost and keep people safe in their offices and at home to conduct necessary research. Everything is available to view for free via our official website at NHdeeds.org.”
“Our trusted industry partner, Fidlar Technologies of Davenport Iowa acted as middleman for all three aspects of this project and was instrumental in the success of this 5-year effort.”
“I have proudly served as the Grafton County Register of Deeds for 15 years. The national recognition means a great deal to me and my dedicated staff. This project was an uphill battle every step of the way, but a personal mission in my life is to leave things better than I have found them and it is very gratifying to have been awarded this honor,” said Register Kelley Monahan.
Each year, NACo’s Achievement Awards recognize outstanding programming in 18 categories aligned with the vast, comprehensive services counties provide. The categories include children and youth, criminal justice and public safety, libraries, management, information technology, health, civic engagement and more. Launched in 1970, the program is designed to celebrate innovation in county government. Each nominated program is judged on its own merits and not against other applications.
“The Achievement Awards shine a spotlight on the hard work and innovation happening in county governments across the nation,” said NACo President James Gore. “This year’s winners highlight the dedication and creativity of county leaders and our teams to building thriving communities and providing the best possible services to our residents.”
The Grafton County Registry of Deeds will be hosting an open house September 30-October 2, 2025, from 9:00-4:00 to showcase the historic plan restoration and the vault redesign.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) strengthens America’s counties, including nearly 40,000 county elected officials and 3.6 million county employees. Founded in 1935, NACo unites county officials to advocate for county government priorities in federal policymaking; promote exemplary county policies and practices; nurture leadership skills and expand knowledge networks; optimize county and taxpayer resources and cost savings; and enrich the public’s understanding of county government. www.naco.org

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