Reference thread for researching house's age

[melissakd]

Property tax records

Property taxes go back much farther in history than income or other taxes. They were paid on all real property, whether any house had been built or not. Since they were based on property value, periodic assessments were necessary, and those records probably still exist for your area. Records of payments also were kept. Then as now, the assessed values are only loosely related to the price a person would pay to buy the place.

Taxes went up over the years, as they still do, but the building of a house caused the property value to increase significantly. If the neighboring properties increased much less, or not at all, from one assessment to the next, chances are you've pinpointed the time frame for your house's construction.

Since these records dealt with the legally defined property (Smith's Addition to the city of Smithville, Lot #4), they probably are listed by their legal descriptions, which you know since you own the place, and therefore can lead you to the names of property owners.

Property tax records can help you:
Figure out your house's build date -- compare assessed values year by year
Find out who owned the property at various stages, beginning with the person who originally platted (laid out or subdivided) your neighborhood. This can come in handy if the chain of title deeds breaks down.
Date major additions to the property

Where to look for property tax records:
County assessor's office
County courthouse
Public library
University and state libraries
Local historical society/museum

Some localities keep all their records up to the present in one place; others have placed their older records in libraries or archives, for safekeeping or to improve public access.

[James]

Great thread. I am floored that anyplace had building permits dating back to 1800. That is way earlier than I would have expected. The property title searches tho will normally be able to go all the way back to your original settlement of the area. We traced my house back to deeds in the 1740's when the builder got to adjoining pieces of property in 1744 and 1749. One by deed, mentioning a house already there, and one by a royal land grant. So in theory this place could date to the 1740's I suppose(tho I doubt it). Those records are great and can tell you a lot if you take the time to do it. Just hope they have survive the various fires and floods over the years(not to mention invasion if you live down here in places like Georgia and Virginia). Our Register of Deeds office even survived the flood from Floyd in 1999 thanks to the staff hauling records out of the basement.(We were ground zero for that flood with 40% of the county under water and the survivors here still joke about flooding as Floyding). Clerk of Courts office unfortunately did not.

[MrGrady]

I've had luck with Census Records for dating the house. Our houses first inhabitants appear on the 1870 Census. It also gives you a little view into their personal lives such as profession, real estate worth, estate worth, etc. We even learned that the domestic servant who lived with them (we have a maid's quarters over the kitchen) was a 19 year old named Katie Smith.

[s.kelly]

The State Library is based here in Richmond, and had old city records as well. One thing we were taught was there is a microfilm (fiche?) file of a WPA project from the 30's that took pics of houses and gave some details of the building. May have been a big project or maybe just here, I cannot remember. I think it was managed by the city assesors office, b ut I remember that it was federally funded.



We found a pic from maybe the 40's and lots of fairly detailed info. House was heated with gas in the mid century and at one time was covered with that horrible asphalitic siding. Never knew until then.

Unfortunately the pic was in afternoon shadow and lacks the details of the porch I was hoping for. Does have the picket fence details though.

[michaelskis]

When I was looking to confirm the age of my house, I checked the local tax records because the building permits were not available. They had a notation if it was a vacant lot, or lot with a house. I also like the Polk Directory which lists the names of people who lived in our house, the Sandborn Fire Maps that show the basic foot prints of your house and any other structures, and the old assessment cards because they will tell you if there have been additions, modifications, or other structural improvements over the years.

[kathyd]

When we bought our home in 1979, I checked with the bank where we got our loan and asked about the certificate of title. I was told that the title search had been done by a title company in a neighboring town. I called them and was told if I wanted to come pick it up, it was mine. They no longer used them. I got a large portfolio of papers with just about all the information I could ever want, dating back to 1880. When I paid off the house after my husband's death, I was sent our information, all ready to add to the portfolio.