How To Research Your House History

So you've just bought your dream house and now you want to know some of the stories behind it.  Often when you are renovating an older home you will find things that have fallen into the walls and under floors.  I have a whole box of things I have found in my house from old photos to shoes, purses etc.  These small items can give you information such as names or faces, but what if they don't?  Here are the tips to find out the history of your home:

1. The first step should be introduce yourself to your neighbors.  Often residents who have resided in the area for awhile will know some history and maybe even have some early photos.  Don't just think of your next door neighbor or across the street neighbor but think of everyone who can see your house from their house.  Who knows you might just find a photo of your house in the corner of a photo.

2.  If your property came with an abstract this will give you much information.  This will give you all the previous owners names.  These can then research the family names and such.  If you don't have an abstract you can go to the county property records department and search that way, but it can be time consuming and difficult.  I would recommend this method only if you can't locate information other ways.

3. Go to your local historical society!  Check the county and the sate historical societies.  Often here you can locate your original building permit which will tell you who built the house and some other useful information.  At the local historical society there is a plethora of information available.  First you can check plain old google to see if it has any information on your house address, the original owner or builder and any other names you might find associated with your house. You can also get old permits that were pulled too which will tell you the names of the owners and times bigger projects were done on your house such as adding electric or when your house was duplexed.   One great place to check is the city blue books or directories.  Often there is a reverse blue book where you can look up homes by address and then find the owners.  Check each year and write down the names.  You can then take these names and do the google search.  Also check census records for the time as well.  This can be a little hard on the eyes but can give you information the blue books might not.   Also check the historical society's photograph records.  Check under your address and the names of past occupants.  One last place to check here is old news paper records.  Was there a huge fire near in your house? Or something rather newsworthy?  Check old news papers around the dates of big events and you might just get lucky and pull up an old photo of your house from the past

4. Check the insurance maps for the time.  Usually your city or historical society will have insurance maps which show a birds eye view of your house.  This can be very useful to determine porch lines and other details that might have been lost over the years.

5. If all else fails and you only find out a few names of old owners and you really want to do some work roll up your sleeves.  Places like ancestry.com and such offer great and easy access to family trees and records.  Sign up for a free trial  (just remember to cancel before the bill date or keep if you like) and start cracking.  Basically what you need to do is chart a family history from the owners names you have to present times.  This can be difficult and time consuming, but can often lead to great rewards.  Work backwards until you find a living descendant.  Who knows they might just have the answers or photographs you've been looking for.  I have gone so far as to send letters to possible descendants telling them my names, address and if they have a relative by xxx name and if they can provide any information.

6. Another great place to look if you live near a church or a school is their archives.  Often longstanding institutions hold great archives that people don't even think about.  Check their records and maybe your house is in the corner of one of their photos.

7. Also ask you local community council or local historian if they know information about your house.  These can offer up good leads too.

The whole process is not always quick or easy but putting your efforts in all of these and taking the time can really pay off.  You could hire a house historian but that can cost thousands of dollars so spend a few afternoons at your local historical society and see what you can dig up.  You might just be surprised.

If you like what you read on my blog and would like to contribute to the house restoration please click the donate button below. All donations will be GREATLY appreciated!!