The City Clerk, along with the Tax Collector, is the oldest of municipal servants, predating biblical times and the written word. Early keepers of the archives were often called "Remembrancers," and before writing came into use, their memory was the public record. Ancient Greece had a City Secretary who read official documents publicly and who, at the beginning of meetings, proclaimed a curse on anyone who should seek to deceive the people. The title as we know it derived from the Middle Ages. A "Clerk" was any member of a religious order, a "Cleric" or "Clergyman." The Clergy were the scholars during the time.

The Office of Clerk can be traced back to 1272 A.D. in the History of the Corporation of Old London. In the 1500's in England, there was not only the "Towne Clarke" but also the "Clerc Comptroller of the King's Honorable Household." In 1603, there was a "Clarke General of the Armie"; King Henry the Eighth had a "Clarke of the Spicery," and King Charles had his "Clerk of the Robes." When the early colonists came to America, they set up forms of local government to which they were accustomed, and the Office of the Clerk was one of the first established. Today, there is a City Clerk in every incorporated city or township in the United States, and Clerks in many cities around the world.

Historical List of Chula Vista City Clerks