Poorly preserved deed records

[Steve]

I came across this story from the Philadelphia Inquirer that makes one wonder what important unknown historical records may lie in county courthouses and such, but are decaying away due to neglect:

http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/penns...80822.html

[Gene C]

Many counties don't have the $, or can't justify the expense, to have the records preserved.

[L Verge]

What breaks my heart is the thought of the huge amounts of all sorts of historic records that were lost to time when Southern courthouses were burned during the Civil War and also records that were thrown out by clerks because they needed more space for incoming papers before the digital age.