Help to Trace the History of your American House
Every home has a story to tell of human endeavor, love and tragedy. A home is a special place in which families grow and children flourish. It is important to collect those memories from the past.
Most of the steps required to research the history of a home are the same wherever you live and this website covers the general principles. However some of the terms used and research establishments in the U.S are different and so some of the key issues are set out here.
So why trace the history of your house? House research is detective work. If you have traced your families origins then you will have some idea about the journey you will be taking and the type of documents you will be investigating. Some people only want to know the age of their house and perhaps who built it. Others go further and want to know who lived in it and how it evolved over time. Whether it's your house, your ancestors or a house you are interested in this site will guide you through the resources available to you. Lets get going...........what information do you have already? Work backwards from what you know now; taking a step at a time and making sure at each stage you are satisfied that you have the correct information Examine any old documents deeds, registration documents,photographs or old sale particulars that you may hold or that your legal representative when you bought the house may have. If you have an Abstract of Title you will have quite a bit - not all - of the information you will need to trace the history of your house. Speak to neighbors and check with your local library to see if anyone has already done some research on the history of your neighborhood. Don't forget to take a look at the many useful links to sites that will tell you more about tracing your US house history. DEEDS- CHAIN OF TITLE SEARCH 
The chain of title Is the list of people who have owned the house - details of which can be found in the deeds. The deeds are the proof of property ownership and contain information about the owners and sometimes maps of the plot. It is a legal document required to be completed at each transfer of the property so it is vital to locate these. These can usually be found in the Register of Deeds office at the Historical Society, or sometimes they are available on microfilm or even on line. From these build the chain of title or ownership history starting from the current owner. These deeds will list the grantee, grantor, legal description,date and amount paid. This will give you information about the owners and is a good start but to find out more we need to consult other documents. If you have a Abstract of Title you can skip searching for deeds at least up and until the date of the Abstract. Locating Historical U.S. Deeds Online is a very useful site at About.com or Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records by William Dollarhide provides good advice. BUILDING PERMITS Building permits often provide information on the homes type of structure, details of when and how it was built with notes about the architect as well as the owner. Sometimes these are filed by address, but can be found in a chronological order and this can make it difficult to find the appropriate ones. They are to be found at the city or county planning or zoning office or sometimes county offices.
Details for older buildings may have been lodged with permits at the local library or historical societies or archives. Usually filed by street address, building permits can be especially useful when tracing a house MECHANICAL LIENS
MECHANICAL LIENS 
Mechanics Liens are designed to ensure that a contractor is properly compensated for work that has been carried out on a house. Liens list the names of the owners and the contractor and a detailed description of the work with estimates. These can be found in clerk of the recorder of deeds in the county office where the home is located.
TAX ASSESSMENT ROLLS
In the US the value of properties are assed annually to determine the rate of taxation which is used to support the community's annual budget. Sometimes the assessors are known as listers or property appraiser. The information is kept on a Tax History Card which contains a brief description of the building, details of previous owners, date built and date of deeds. A sudden jump in valuation might indicate a that the house has been demolished and new construction replaces it or an addition had been added. International Society of Appraisers will help you find appraisers County Government Property Appraisal web sites hold a wealth of information about the sales history of your home and those homes around you. The Public Records Online Directory is a portal to official state web sites, and those Tax Assessors' and Recorders' offices that have developed web sites for the retrieval of available public records over the internet FIRE INSURANCE RECORDS Historical fire insurance records contain information about the nature of an insured building, its value, contents, and, possibly, even floor plans. You will need to search for all the insurance companies who have been active in the area of your house. There is an excellent article providing more information at This Old House
Digital Sanborn Map Collection In 1867, the Sanborn Map Company of Pelham, New York, produced a collection of maps of American cities and towns to aid fire insurance companies in their assessment of properties. Many of these relate to commercial properties or fire prone areas of some towns but they will mention houses in the vicinity. PHONE and STREET DIRECTORIES AND BOOKS Directories provide information about who lived in your house but also by looking at street lists you can see how the neighborhood was set out. Old phone books can also be helpful for tracing people who have lived in your house. The local library or heritage centre is the best place to start although there are some links on line. City Directories of the United States of America provides a register of known city directories, their years, and repositories for the United States Bear in mind that street names and numbering can change so keep a note of surrounding properties or landmarks as you read from year to year. Also you must take care when noting the date of the information you glean form directories as there could easily be a two year delay between gathering the information and publishing it or indeed in listing any changes that might occur. A street directory is a finding aid and very useful particularly in helping to locate people in the census but it must be treated with caution if you are looking for residents and assume an event occured +/- 2 years either side of the publication. A link to on line directories can be found at the Online Historical Directories site HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEYThe Historic Buildings survey (HABS) which was started in 1936 and is still in progress could provide useful information. The surveys can be examined by State, County and Municipality.Information to be found consists of historic name, description of the building, a statement setting out why the building was chosen to be of architectural or historic merit as well as its overall condition. MAPSLocal libraries and record offices contain many maps which might be helpful in locating your house. Some of the most common can be found in the large scale Plat Books some of which date back to the 19th century.Maps help you see changes to the district as well as perhaps your plot before the house was built. NEWSPAPERS Newspapers may help you find information that relates to the planning of the house or any addition that has been made but unless it is a famous house it will not feature very much - if at all . The real benefit from newspapers is in finding our more about its residents through obituaries, wedding or birth notices as well as news stories. Chronicling America is a website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages WILLS & ESTATE PAPERS & RECORDSNEWSPAPERSEstate records relate to the individual estate after they have died. If the person dies without a will (intestate) the courts will require an inventory of the deceased's possessions which can be very useful for house historians. Check with the Clerk of the District Court for more information on how to locate these.
Where can I find out more?The information above shows you most of the key resources available but there are far more. We recommend that you look round the whole of this website for inspiration and advice. We also provide some links below but far more can be found on Links to American House sites
Some online resources can be found at - The David Rumsey Map Collection (free) extensive online collection of historical atlases, maps, and other antique cartographic material. Downloads available. The Library of Congress American Memory Collection (free) cities and towns, conservation and environment, cultural landscapes, discovery and exploration, general maps, military battles and campaigns, and transportation and communication. The University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (free) has online state maps and atlases. The Norman B Leventhal Map Center (free) is in the process of digitizing a significant portion of its 200,000 historic maps and 5,000 atlases. The collection's scope is the World, Europe, and America, with particular attention to New England, Massachusetts, and Boston from the 15th century to the present day. |
Useful links to U.S. House SitesLinks we have chosen which will help you trace the history of your house CENSUS RECORDS
As with the UK a Census is taken every 10 years but the earliest was taken in 1790 although they are most useful since the 1850 set. It provides information about occupiers where they came from, how many children they had, the value of the property, and more. Census records can usually be found at libraries and archives. There are many paid and subscription sites. Useful links -
some may be subscription some like Find My Past have many free records to look up. Find my past Census, land & survey Records Researching Your |
Home Getting Started Guides Land Reg & Title Deeds Directories Census Maps Tax Probate & Wills Manorial Records Other records
Ancestors Home Talking to neighbors Interesting Houses Homes of Famous People House Stories House Museums Writing it up
Trace my American House Interesting American Houses Links to American Sites Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
Ancestors Home Talking to neighbors Interesting Houses Homes of Famous People House Stories House Museums Writing it up
Trace my American House Interesting American Houses Links to American Sites Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
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