The internet is a great place to learn how to research the history of your home. There are several checklists and articles to get you started. While some of these sources are city-specific, there may still be information here that you can use in your own city. Keywords for searching the internet include: “house history” and “how to research the history of your house.”

About.com’s Genealogy House Histories – Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home or Other Building 
http://genealogy.about.com/od/basics/a/house_history.htm
Tips for beginning a search on the history of a home or building and researching its history by its address.

Cyndi’s List 
http://www.cyndislist.com/houses
A large list of resources and web links for researching the history of a home.

Kansas State Historical Society House History Checklist 
http://www.kshs.org/research/pdfs/househistorychecklist.pdf
A checklist of places and things to look for when researching the history of a house. (You may go to http://www.adobe.com to download Adobe reader for viewing PDF, or portable document format.)

Denver Public Library Building Histories Tutorial 
http://history.denverlibrary.org/research/building/index.html
A detailed tutorial on how to research building and house histories, specifically for Denver, but useful information for all.

Fort Collins Public Library Local History Archives Researching the History of Your Building 
http://history.fcgov.com/archive/researchbuildings.php
A step-by-step guide to researching a building’s history in Ft. Collins, Colorado, with links to begin searching and ideas that may apply to searching your own town.

Wikihow.com’s How to Research the History of Your House
http://www.wikihow.com/Research-the-History-of-Your-House
A good overview of what to look for and how to find it when researching a house’s history.

About.com’s Architecture: Research Your Home 
http://architecture.about.com/od/researchyourhome/Research_Your_Home.htm
Web pages and resources to conduct architectural investigations and find answers to your house questions.

Resources that will aid you in your research

About.com’s Genealogy: House Histories – Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home or Other Building 
http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa062202a.htm
Article discussing the architectural and historical facts surrounding a building’s history

Genealogy Research Associates’ US City Directories 
http://www.uscitydirectories.com/
Repositories of city directories nationwide are listed with their location at local or regional libraries. (Note: this is an ongoing project, so not all directories from all cities are listed).

NETR Real Estate Research and Information 
http://www.netronline.com/
Real estate research and information services, including historical environmental chain of title reports, condition of title reports and public records directory online.

Wikipedia.org: Building Code 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_code
Information about building codes that may be useful in researching the construction and occupancy of your home

Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) – Skillbuilding: Analyzing Deeds for Useful Clues http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/skbld951.html
From the newsletter OnBoard from the BCG, an article on analyzing property deeds.

Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: Land Records, Deeds, Homesteads, Etc. 
http://www.cyndislist.com/land
A list of resources and web links to find information on land records.

Courts Records: National Center for State Courts: 
http://www.ncsc.org/Information-and-Resources/Browse-by-State/State-Court-Websites.aspx
A directory of courts (county, circuit, etc.) in each state with links to their web sites, most of which have search capabilities to trace people and places.

International Society of Appraisers 
http://www.isa-appraisers.org/
County Government Property Appraisal web sites hold a wealth of information about the sales history of your home and those homes around you. The best way to find your county’s property appraisal site is by searching by county (example: Fulton County Property Appraiser or Jackson County property appraisals).

State and Local Government on the Net 
http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
A directory of state, county and city government web sites.

City and county maps may show you your home with the owner or resident’s name written beside it. Maps can also show roads or other landmarks that may no longer exist. These are pieces of your home’s history and can be helpful in putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

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. For the purposes of researching a home, these maps can be very helpful when tracing the changes in cities and towns. (Unfortunately, rural areas are not well-represented in this collection).

Digital Sanborn Map Collection
http://sanborn.umi.com/ and your local library (see library resources below)

Wisconsin Historical Society’s Using Sanborn Maps to Research Old Buildings
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/hp/buildings/sanborn_maps.asp

Library of Congress - American Memory Maps Collection 
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
Historical maps for cities and towns throughout the US (not all cities are included).

Wikipedia.org: Gazetteer 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary, which can be helpful, when used with an atlas, for information about places and place-names.

Census Records 
http://www.censusrecords.com
A database with historical maps, census records, and links to other sources of information. This database does not list every city in every state, but most major cities are listed and quite a few smaller cities are, as well. Maps date as far back as 1865.

Obtaining Enumeration Districts from the Census 
http://www.stevemorse.org/census/
If you are using census records to locate former home owners, you may need to know the enumeration district (or ED) in which the person lived. This web site is helpful for determining the ED when you do not have access to a name index or cannot locate the owner by name.

Access to the information in these web sites is available for a fee and includes databases of city directories, U.S. census images, historic newspapers and other records of former owners.

Ancestry.com 
http://www.ancestry.com
An abundance of databases for searching former owners of your home.

Genealogy.com 
http://www.genealogy.com 
A wide range of local family histories.

Your local library is a good starting point for beginning your research. While your library may have only limited materials to use to research a specific property, it is always advisable to ask what is available. Some libraries have archival holdings; others may direct you to a historical library. Your library’s reference collection will probably have city directories, almanacs, and local newspapers. Some libraries have city and county aerial and plat maps. Census data can often be found for your area at the public library, as well. If your local library does not contain collections in the time period you are interested in, consult your local archival and local history libraries.

The Digital Sanborn Maps collection may also be available at your local library.

Your local public Subject Headings will include “Dwellings” and “Architecture” for your state, including “Construction,” “History” and “Historic Buildings.”

To find your local library, go to http://www.publiclibraries.com
You can search this directory by state. It will give you a listing of every county and some cities. Select your county, or city if it is provided, and it will link you to your public library’s web site.

Another great site for finding your library is LibDex at http://www.libdex.com/.

Historical societies often have their own libraries. This is a sampling of historical societies on the web that offer location-specific research guidance, but their tips may also be useful in your location. Use the first link to obtain a directory of societies by state.

US Historical Society Directory 
http://www.daddezio.com/society/hill/index.html
National database of Historical Societies broken down by states. (Web sites included where available.)

http://www.countyhistory.com/clay/start.html

Putnam County — Indiana Historical Society

http://www.putnam.lib.in.us/lh/