Researching Your Own House
TheHoraceS. Eldr edge Home, 216 East 1st South, Salt Lake City.
by Lois Harris
R
esearching the history of a house can be one of the most rewarding experiences a property owner will have. Uncovering the house's hidden identity is fun, interesting, and economically advantageous. Economically, it makes sense to date your house before spending time and money restoring it. Daring a building helps to uncover its proper style and tradition. In-character restoration is the best way to preserve the long-term market value of the property. Another reason to research an old house is to discover the part that it may have played in the development of the neighborhood or city. Your house may be truly unique because of its architectural design or its history. If this is the case, it may be worthy of special recognition such as placement on the National Register of Historic Places. When researching a house you should look for answers to these questions: • When was the house built? • Who was the original owner or occupant? • What part did the house play in the development of the neighborhood or city? • What style is it? • Who designed or built the house? • Have there been major structural changes? The Preservation Office of the
Utah State Historical Society uses a Structure/Site information form to record this basic data. These forms are available to the public and can be of use to the old-house researcher. After you have decided what to look for, it is important to know where to go to find the information. Before beginning your research, check to see if any documentation on your house already exists. State or local historical societies are usually a good source for this information. Your house maybe represented on an historic register or may be part of an historic district. Existing information should always be sought, but be sure to check its validity before accepting it as gospel. It is also important to become familiar with the location and operating hours of public offices and libraries where documents and other information, of the type discussed below, can be found. BUILDING PERMIT BOOKS Building permit books are probably the most accurate record of construction dates. Besides the date of construction, building permit books can yield other valuable information. A building permit may also reveal the contractor and/or architect as well as provide a basic description of the house and the cost of construction. The Utah State Historical Society collection contains the permit books for Salt Lake City from 1891 to 1927. Their collection also includes building permit books for Provo from 1883 to 1912 and from 1922
to 1928. To find the location of other cities' building permit books, contact your city's offices. SANBORN MAPS Sanborn maps can also help approximate the date of a building's construction. These maps were originally used as insurance maps for many cities. They show what existed on a street at a certain time. Using these maps you can usually get to within ten years of a building's age. Since the maps are color coded, they also help to determine the original building material. Sanborns can also be used to trace neighborhood development, and they show the original shape of the building. Sanborn maps are available at the University of Utah Marriott Library in the Western Americana Collection. PLAT SEARCHING Plat records are helpful if you cannot locate a building permit for your house. Plat abstract books are used to trace ownership of a building from its construction to the present time. To use the plat abstract books you will need to have the lot, block, and plat on which your house sits. This information can be obtained from your deed or from maps at county offices. Using the date or approximate date of construction, go back to the earliest record of a house on your property and work your way up to the present time. A clue to the date of construction is that the monetary value of a lot increases substantially when a 12
