The Kaunas town archive started with the establishment of local governance in the beginning of the 15th century. The archive contained the main documents of the town: the privileges that had been awarded to Kaunas by the Lithuanian Grand Dukes and documents of the Kaunas administration. After the reconstruction of the Town Hall in the second half of the 18th century, the town archive was situated in the Town Hall tower beneath the clock. Most possibly, before the reconstruction the archive was housed in another part of the Town Hall, since the tower wasn’t as high as it had been after reconstruction. The archive premises were locked and accessible only to the officers in charge – the burgomaster and the clerk. In 1785 Kaunas magistrate elected the first Kaunas town archivist. In 1792 and 1794 for some time the archive was supervised by special officer regents. The town archive was damaged in various fires, and the final blow was dealt by the war of 1812.
Liudas Glemža