Perhaps there’s an offbeat detail in your home akin to David Fox and Patricia Tjaden’s vintage basement murals. If so and you’re in need of old property records, consider compiling a house history.
The motivation to be a property history sleuth can be practical, like needing blueprints to assist with renovation planning, or whimsical, like wondering whether those eerie nighttime sounds are the ghosts of a previous resident. Either way, researchers are likely to walk away with unusual conversation fodder.
The following property research tips were compiled for Denver residents by Bruce Hanson, a collections specialist in the Western History/Genealogy Department at the Denver Public Library. But these guidelines can be adapted to local records and resources no matter where you live. To begin your research, you will need to know the approximate date of construction, legal description, and street name at the time the building was constructed.
If that information is unavailable through the municipal assessor’s office, old city and real estate atlases and local insurance maps such as those published for Denver by the Sanborn Map Co. can help establish a range of dates for construction (i.e., the property appears in a 1905 atlas but not a 1903 atlas).
Some cities make property records available online. In Denver, look for them by logging on to realproperty.asp.
Street names can change over time, so it’s helpful to look up the property’s block and lot numbers.
Old building permits and assessor lot indexes are often stored in municipal libraries, sometimes on microfilm. These may provide the name of an original owner, builder or architect. In Denver, there is also a “Householder’s Directory” with information from 1924 to the present, which is stored in the Building History Research Area at the main branch of the Denver Public Library.
Old city directories, sometimes stored on microfilm, include alphabetical listings by name of resident or business. Most also list a subject’s occupation and addresses.
Local newspapers, historical journals, books, manuscripts and photographs also can helpful. These, too, are often stored on microfilm.
Some libraries hold collections of plans and blueprints by significant regional architects.
Old census records can provide a more in-depth look at the neighborhood.
One property history resource that’s often overlooked is the neighborhood itself. Neighbors may know stories about previous homeowners or have old photos of the area.
