Researching the History of Your House

Books

Blumenson, John J. G. Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945. Revised ed. New York: Norton, 1990. 118 p. $12.95 (paper)
Includes photos from the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Friedman, Donald. Historical Building Construction: Design, Materials, and Technology. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995. 238 p. $48 (cloth)
Written for construction professionals, the book is a primer on how New York's buildings have gone up and come down.

Houses & Homes: Exploring Their History. The Nearby History Series, v. 2. Reprint ed. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1987. 168 p. $16.95 (paper)

Howard, Hugh. How Old Is This House?: A Skeleton Key to Dating and Identifying Three Centuries of American Houses. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1989. 224 p. $10.95 (paper)

Kerr, K. Austin. Local Businesses: Exploring Their History. The Nearby History Series, no. 5. Reprint ed. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1990. 128 p. $16.95 (paper)

Kyvig, David E and Myron A. Marty. Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1996. 300 p. $22.95 (paper)
Guidance in investigating the complete history of your immediate environment--your communities, families, institutions, and cultural artifacts.

Light, Sally. House Histories: A Guide to Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home. Spencertown, N.Y.: Golden Hill Press, 1989. 302 p. $14.95 (paper)

McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. 525 p. $35 (cloth), $21.95 (paper)
“The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America--houses built for American families (rich, poor, and in-between), in city and countryside, from the 17th century to the present.”

Morgan, James. If These Walls Had Ears: The Biography of a House. New York: Warner Books, 1996. 276 p. $22.95 (cloth)
A journalist wrests the secrets from his own home in Little Rock and tells the history of an old house and the seven other families who had called it home.

Pamphlets

Bahn, Jacqueline K. How to Research Your House. Port Washington, N. Y.: Landmarks Committee, Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, 1984. 12 p.
“A guide to tracing ownership of buildings and land in the Town of North Hampstead.”

Bezat, Barbara. Drafting a House History. Minneapolis: Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota, 1979. 12 p.

Brizzolara, Susan. How to Research the History of Your Home in New Castle County, Delaware: Research Guide. Newark, Del.: New Castle County Dept. of Planning, Historic Preservation Section, 1996. 1 v. (unpaged)

Brownstone Biographies. The House Research Guide: A Step by Step Manual for Owners, Occupants and Other Old House Lovers. Brooklyn, N. Y.: Brownstone Biographies, 1978. 19 p.

Chidley, George A. How to Research the History of a House. Trenton, N.J.: Dept. of Environmental Protection, Div. of Parks and Forestry, Bureau of Parks, Historic Preservation Office, 1994. 11 p.

Cramton, Thomas James. Historic Houses of Fort Wayne, Indiana: A Guide to Research Sources and Techniques. Fort Wayne, Ind.: Arch, Inc., Fort Wayne Public Library, 1977. 16 p.

Doherty, Joan F. How to Use the Jersey City Public Library to Research the History of Your House. Jersey City, N. J.: Jersey City Public Library, 1984. 20 p.

Ellsworth, Linda. The History of a House: How to Trace It. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1976. 8 p. (Technical leaflet / American Association for State and Local History, 89)

Every Structure Tells a Story: How to Research the History of a Property in Santa Cruz County: with Research Techniques, Sources of Information, Locations of Research Material, and a Bibliography. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Santa Cruz County Historical Trust, 1990. 112 p. (Occasional research papers / Santa Cruz County Historical Trust, no. 1)

Foote, Beverly. How to Research an Old Building in Coles County, Illinois: A Guidebook. Mattoon, Ill.: Association for the Preservation of Historic Coles County, 1980. 17 p.

Heumann, Leslie. How to Research Buildings in Santa Monica. City of Santa Monica, California, Historic Preservation Plan, v. 6. Santa Monica, Calif., 1990. 29 leaves.

Historic Residence Research Resources: A Guide for the Layperson to Sources of Building Data in Fresno. [S. l.: s. n., 1988] 7 p.

How to Research Buildings in Glendale. Glendale, Calif.: Glendale Historical Society, 1987. 56 p.

Kimmey, James R. House History in St. Louis: A Guide to Research on Real Estate and Building History. [St. Louis: the author] 1991. 22 p.

Morris, Ann. How to Research the History of Your Webster Groves House. Webster Groves, Mo.: Webster Groves Historical Society, 1980. 20 p.

Noel, Thomas J. Richthofen's Montclair: A Pioneer Denver Suburb: A Brief History, Illustrated Walking Tour and Research Guide to Denver House and Neighborhood History. 2d, slightly rev. ed. Boulder, Col.: Pruett, 1978. 116 p.

Portland Neighborhood History Project. Tracing the History of Structures: Historic Designations, House types in Oregon. Portland, Ore.: Neighborhood History Project, Portland Parks and Recreation. 10 p.

Researching the History of a Champaign County Home. Urbana, Ill.: Champaign County Historical Archives, The Urbana Free Library, 1989. 3 p.

Salmon, John S. How to Research Your Historic Virginia Property. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources, 1995. 30 p.

Summers, Lydia B. Researching the Old House. Portland, Me.: Greater Portland Landmarks, 1981. 72 p.

Your House Has a History. Chicago, 1988. 8 p.

Articles

Brooks, Andree. “Your Home: Historic Houses; National Register Status.” New York Times, Sunday, May 23, 1993, Sec. 10, p. 7.

Brown, Norman. “Your House’s Roots.” Early American Life (April 1986): 14-16.

Folsom, Michael B. “Searching for Ghosts: How to Track Down the History of an Old Country House.” Blair & Ketchum’s Country Journal (January 1980): 92-100.

Gray, Christopher. “A Guide to Researching the History of a Building.” New York Times, July 2, 1995, Sec. 9, p. 5.
While historic preservation has become an industry, there is no manual, guidebook or even a list of the commonest sources for local-history research in New York City. Tips are offered for navigating the Dept. of Buildings, the Municipal Archives and the New York Public Library to research local history.

Gray, Christopher. “Rattling the Bones of an Old House.” New York Times, Aug. 4, 1994, Sec. C, p. 8.

Maxwell, Shirley and James Massey. “Making the Honor Roll.” Old House Journal 21 (Jan. 1993): 44 ff.
Focuses on whether or not your house belongs on the National Register of Historic Places. Getting on ‘the register’; Research to be done; Is your house register-worthy; Books and literature on the subject; The registration process; Individual vs. historic district; Describing the building and doing the research; How much will it cost; Details.

Schell, Ernest H. “Tracing the History of an Old House.” Early American Life (October 1981): 32, 95-99, 104.

Simonsen, Judith A. “Your House History: A Guide for Research.” Milwaukee History 8:2-3 (1985): 38-55.
Details the location and use of historical sources on the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area such as county real estate records, title abstracts, city directories, probate records, insurance maps, architectural blueprints, census records, newspapers, and photographs that the amateur researcher can use to trace his own house history.

Whitcomb, Claire. “The Stories Houses Tell.” House Beautiful 138:6 (June 1996): 64, 66, 130.

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