A Georgia archivist has found what appears to be the state's official copy of the Declaration of Independence sitting in a file.

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Gregory Jarrell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was looking through microfilm records when he spotted the date March 2, 1777. He checked the original document, bound with others into a volume, and discovered a handwritten copy of the document.

David Carmichael, the director of the archives, said he believes the document was one of 13 sent to the 13 colonies after the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

"This is our copy of the declaration," Carmichael said.

The copy somehow survived the Revolution and the Civil War and was placed in the archives when they were formed in 1918. Jarrell and Carmichael said they believe the document has been sitting unnoticed and forgotten ever since.