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House research is detective work. Whether you want to know who lived at your address or when it was built there are lots of free and paid for records to help you. Or you might want to know 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. To help discover how old your house is go to our guide to dating your house page and house styles.
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Quick links - If you know what records you are lookinf for go staright to them-
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Where to begin? What information is immediately available?
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When tracing the history of your house 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 - title deeds, registration documents, photographs or old sale particulars that you may hold or that your legal representative when you bought the house may have. 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. Also search for American Local Guideslocal guides to house history in your area.
Ok so having collected all the possible information that is available we need to start looking at the records. Starting with Chain of Title |
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DEEDS - CHAIN OF TITLE SEARCH
The 'chain of title' Is useful for house history research and is a 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.
Deeds may not always mention a house - only the land - but if it does 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 do read this
Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records by William Dollarhide provides good advice.
The Bureau of Land Management , General Land Office has a digitised collection of more than 5 million federal lands title records
between 1788 and the present. They also have images of survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records. Due to organization of documents in the GLO collection, this site does not currently contain every Federal title record issued for the Public Land
The Chain of Title is a part of the process of discovering your house history. Now we are likely to know who owned the land and when that was but we need to find out more. Let's look deeper into the house itself and how and who it might have been built using Building Permits and onto Mechanics' Liens
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.
Deeds may not always mention a house - only the land - but if it does 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 do read this
Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records by William Dollarhide provides good advice.
The Bureau of Land Management , General Land Office has a digitised collection of more than 5 million federal lands title records
between 1788 and the present. They also have images of survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records. Due to organization of documents in the GLO collection, this site does not currently contain every Federal title record issued for the Public Land
The Chain of Title is a part of the process of discovering your house history. Now we are likely to know who owned the land and when that was but we need to find out more. Let's look deeper into the house itself and how and who it might have been built using Building Permits and onto Mechanics' Liens
BUILDING PERMITS
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CENSUS
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A Census was taken every 10 years with the earliest in 1790 although they are most useful to house historians since the 1850 set. The census starts to add to the story of your house through it's occupiers and 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. What you can expect to find in the censusApart from the names, relationships, occupation and birth place there was a lot more information available that relates to house history -
1850 Shows the value of the Real Estate 1860 & 1870 Shows value of Real Estate and personal estate indicates their status in life. 1880 This census introduces house numbers and street names 1900 - 1920 Even more clues to follow up on - this time the street, house number, whether it was house or farm and whether it was owned or rented or if the owner had a mortgage or owned it outright. 1930 All as above but this time the census wanted to know if there was a radio set! 1940 introduced a lot more questions as well as the usual relationship and occupation queries. There was the highest grade of school that the person completed; If foreign born, is the person a citizen; number of weeks worked in 1939; amount of money, wages, or salary received (including commissions) and did the person receive income of more than $50 from sources other than money wages or salary Some may be subscription some like Find My Past and Ancestry have many free records to look up
Find my past Census, land & survey Records |
Lots More Help - Read our Blogs |
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TAX ASSESSMENT ROLLS |
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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
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 |
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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 or Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Genealogy by Lisa Cooke
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. |
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PHONE & STREET DIRECTORY
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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 Ancestry has a searchable selection of U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 |
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HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY
The 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.
MAPS
Local 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.
Chroniclng America is a website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages
WILLS, ESTATE DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS
Estate 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. Ancestry have a collection of Wills and Probates
WHERE CAN I DISCOVER MORE?
The information above shows you some 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 more help and advice .........
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.
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.
Interesting American Houses and House Museums
If you wan to know more about researching house history in your county, town or state then we list the local GUIDES that are available.
Links to useful US sites can be found by clicking here
Find My Past has easy access to many free records dedicated to helping you trace the history of a house
Want to date your house?Go to How old is my American House with lots examples of American house styles.
Links to useful US sites can be found by clicking here
Find My Past has easy access to many free records dedicated to helping you trace the history of a house
Want to date your house?Go to How old is my American House with lots examples of American house styles.
ANNOUNCING GREAT NEW BLOG
Beginner’s Guide to Tracing Your House’s History from Jen in the US. A great blog with lots of interesting hints and tips about her personal journey in to house history |
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