Research Tools

Looking for ways to research your home’s history or the

history of a property/business in the area?

These sites can help you begin your search.

The internet has a plethora of sites that can help you learn how to find information about your property.
Homelight has a wonderful page that will help you learn where
you need to start.
https://www.homelight.com/blog/buyer-how-to-search-property-records/

1. Start by searching your County Recorder’s records online
In Hamilton County we have a very good Historic Records Search at
https://recordersoffice.hamilton-co.org/helpful_information/rohistoric_record_navigation.html

2. Research old census records. You should able to discover the names of family members who lived in the home, as well as their ages, birth states, year of immigration, marriage status, occupations, personal belongings and other interesting information. According to the National Archives, not all of this information is available for every census. For instance, from 1790 to 1840 only the “head of household” is listed in census records.

3. Another site that overlays old properties on today’s maps is called “What Was There” This is more fun but can give you some clues as to what was on a site years ago.
http://www.whatwasthere.com

Sanborn Maps

Sanborn maps are detailed maps of U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally published by The Sanborn Map Company (Sanborn), the maps were created to allow fire insurance companies to assess their total liability in urbanized areas of the United States. Since they contain detailed information about properties and individual buildings in approximately 12,000 U.S. cities and towns, Sanborn maps are valuable for documenting changes in the built environment of American cities over many decades.

The maps include outlines of each building and outbuilding; the location of windows and doors; street names; street and sidewalk widths; property boundaries; fire walls; natural features (rivers, canals , etc.); railroad corridors; building use (sometimes even particular room uses); house and block number; as well as the composition of building materials including the framing, flooring,
and roofing materials; the strength of the local fire department; indications of sprinkler systems; locations of fire hydrants; location of water and gas mains;
and even the names of most public buildings, churches and businesses.