If These Walls Could Talk: Researching House Histories

Are you one of our community’s many “house-proud” residents curious about their home’s past? In February 2018, nationally known land title expert and educator Joe Grabas shared tips on the variety of ways to research a house’s history. Techniques range from architectural and archaeological analysis, to newspapers, census and genealogical records, wills, inventories, dendrochronology, liens, obscure sources, such as tavern records, coroner’s reports, bankruptcies, etc. The basics of a house’s story starts with the investigation of county land records to establish what is called the chain of title. Once this is done, homeowners can embark upon other avenues of research.