Researching Your Old House

Where do you begin? Check with local repositories such as libraries, museums and historical societies. Archivists and librarians are typically eager to direct you to resources in their institutions and suggest where other records are kept. Virginia and Lee McAlester's "A Field Guide to American Houses" is an excellent guide for looking at houses - how they were built, in what fashion and for what purpose. The National Trust for Historic Preservation offers preservation books for sale at http://www.preservationnation.org/preservationbooks/

Become familiar with your local city and neighborhood history. This helps to put your house in a context. A usually reliable source for background on the historical development and significance of a neighborhood are National Register nomination reports. These should be available online through your state historic preservation office.

Two excellent papers--“How to Research Your Historic Virginia Property” by John Salmon and “How to Research Your Richmond House,” by David A. Edwards--can be adapted to other cities and states. They discuss architectural style, how to research deeds, tax records, Mutual Assurance Society policies, maps and city directories. Critically important is the physical context of a house--how it compares to neighboring properties.

• "How to Research Your Historic Virginia Property" by John Salmon
  https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/OHDiaries/HowtoResearchYourHistoricVA%20Property.pdf?w=41efae75
• "How to Research Your Richmond House" by David A. Edwards, Architectural Historian
  https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/OHDiaries/Researching%20Your%20Richmond%20House.pdf?w=35365536

The real treasures--if you can find them--are the hyperlocal publications that center on the activities, events and residents associated with a property. A delightful example is Lu Stone's "A House. A Street. A City. The Story of 17 Summer," where the history of Northampton, MA is revealed through the story of one house, one neighborhood, and the residents who rocked on front porches, wore down stair treads and helped build a railroad. We’ve love to hear about your favorite titles and research tools. Contact us at info@oldhouseauthority.com or post a comment on our blog.