MIDDLESEX — Vermont’s Secretary of State says the first phase of an effort to preserve and improve access to nearly 150 years of court records has been completed.

Jim Condos said the legal records from Orleans County from 1800 to 1945 have been consolidated and brought to the Vermont State Archives in Middlesex.

Condos told Vermont Public Radio that the documents show the prevalence of divorce in the early 1800s, counterfeit rings and battles over water rights.

The project was funded by a $118,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Legal records from Lamoille and Caledonia counties also will be consolidated under the grant.