How to Research Old Homes and Buildings
This article provides a brief summary of the types of resources available to help you learn more about your home, building or property. Whether you are restoring an old building or just want to know its history, researching multiple sources can help you answer the following types of questions:
- When was my home or building constructed?
- What was the cost?
- What alterations have been made and when?
- Was my home or building originally constructed with plumbing and electricity?
- Who lived in my home, what did they do for a living and how many children did they have?
- Were the houses or buildings on my block constructed before or after mine?
Where Should I Begin?
The more resources you research the better your odds of finding information about your home, building or property. Some resources will reveal details about the social history of your building. Other resources can provide information to help you restore or repair your building.
Types of research resources include:
| Resources for Restoration or Repair | Resources for Social History |
| Architectural Drawings | City Directories |
| Historical Building Permits | Censuses |
| Historical Images | Local and County Histories |
| Sanborn Maps | Plat Maps / County Atlases |
| Property Tax Rolls |
Architectural Drawings
Wallace House Exterior Perspective, 1954
Bayside, Wisconsin. Perspective rendering of the exterior of the Jerome Wallace House, designed and drawn by architect John Randal McDonald. View the original source document: WHI 86916
Type of Information Provided
Examine architectural drawings to find styles used, original prints, authentic details and architect.
Where to Look
- Your city hall building department
- Local and county historical societies
- Regional historical societies and regional archives
- Wisconsin Area Research Centers
- Archives collections of major metropolitan public libraries
- Academic libraries and archives (colleges and universities)
- State Archives (the Wisconsin Historical Society has a limited collection of architectural drawings)
Historical Building Permits
Type of Information Provided
Examine building permits to find year constructed, years when alteration where made, architect/builder/contractor, building dimensions, type of contruction, legal description of the property and/or cost.
Where to Look
Depending on the city, historical building permits may be held separately from recent permits. Generally, they are stored at city hall in departments that vary from city to city. They can be found in building departments, planning departments, or the records offices.
Historical Images
Taliesin Before Fire, 1913.
Wyoming, Wisconsin. Elevated, exterior view of Taliesin, including a man in a horse-drawn carriage in the courtyard. View the original source document: WHI 68047
Type of Information Provided
Examine historical images to find original setting, building materials, what the building looked like in the past, alterations and design features.
Where to Look
The best source for historical photographs of your building is its previous owners, or their descendants. Most old photographs of houses are in family photo albums, not photograph collections.
- Local Public Library
- Local Historical Societies
- County Historical Societies
- Regional Historical Societies
- Regional Archives
- Your local Area Research Center (link)
- Major Metropolitan Public Library
- Newspaper Archives Available through the Public Library
Sanborn Maps
Osceola Map Section 2, 1926.
Osceola, Wisconsin. Section 2 of a Sanborn map of Osceola. View the property record: AHI 32882
Type of Information Provided
Examine Sanborn Maps to find date of construction, configuration, footprint/height, original building materials, exterior changes over time and other buildings that have existed on the same site.
Where to Look
- Wisconsin Historical Society and Area Research Centers:
The Society Archives maintains a collection of original (paper) Sanborn maps as well as maps on microfilm. Paper maps are available for 325 Wisconsin communities. A complete microfilm edition of Wisconsin Sanborn maps is available in black and white.
- Local Libraries
- Local or County Historical Societies
- College and University Libraries
City Directories
Type of Information Provided
Examine City Directories to find names and occupations of prior residents, number of prior residents and community information.
Where to Look
- Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Area Research Centers:
The Wisconsin Historical Society maintains an expansive collection of city directories for communities across the state, and for some out-of-state cities. This collection can only be used in person at the Society, as these volumes do not travel to other libraries through inter-library loan.
- Local Library
- Local or County Historical Societies
- Online
Censuses - Agricultural
Type of Information Provided
Examine agricultural censuses to find existence of a farm for a given census year, the name of the farm owner, the types of agriculture a farmer was engaged in and the types of livestock kept.
Where to Look
- The Wisconsin Historical Society and Area Research Centers:
The Wisconsin Historical Society Library has complete census records on microfilm from 1790 through 1940. They are available for viewing at either the Society’s Library or at your local Area Research Center <link> For a detailed description of census holdings at the Society, click here <link to ‘resource description: About Our Census Records’>
- Local Library
- Local or County Historical Societies
- College and University Libraries
Censuses - Population
Type of Information Provided
Examine population censuses to document the existence of a house for a given census year, find the name of original and subsequent owners of your house, discover details about the previous occupants of your house including names, occupations, country of birth, and if there were other household members such as children or boarders.
Where to Look
- The Wisconsin Historical Society and Area Research Centers:
For a detailed description of census holdings at the Society, click here < (link to WHS online Resource Description – About Our Census Records //www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828-4294963805&dsRecordDetails=R:CS75
- Local Library
- Local or County Historical Societies
- College and University Libraries
Tip: The availability of cultural data such as Census records, and the ease of accessing that data from a computer with an internet connection has been drastically improved in recent years particularly through online genealogy resources such as Ancestry.com. A subscription service provides instant access to millions of birth, marriage, death and census records, transforming the way people are able to conduct their research. If you don’t have access to a genealogy subscription online at home, it’s possible your local library does. Alternately, the Area Research Centers and the WHS Library maintains access to many genealogy-related subscription services.
Local and County Histories
Type of Information Provided
Examine local and county histories to find biographical sketches, pioneer recollections and other local data not recorded elsewhere.
Where to Look
- Wisconsin Historical Society and Area Research Centers:
The Society maintains in its Archives and Library collections examples of local histories and biographical books. The collection is not comprehensive. Contact a reference librarian if you need assistance with your search. <WHS link> <ARC link>
- Local Library
- Local or County Historical Societies
- College and University Libraries
Plat Maps / County Atlases
Plat Map of Polk Township, 1915.
Polk, Wisconsin. Plat map of Polk township in Washington County. View the property record: AHI 57946
Type of Information Provided
Examine plat maps and county atlases to discover land ownership of rural properties and confirm the existence of a farm for a given year, identify the location and number of buildings on a farm property and learn about other features of a rural area including churches, cemeteries, schools, bridges, etc.
Where to Look
- Wisconsin Historical Society and Area Research Centers.
The Society maintains in its Archives collection examples of almost every early plat map or county atlas published for Wisconsin’s pre- and post-Civil War eras. A card catalogue and guides describing the land ownership maps and county atlases of Wisconsin communities are available in the Archives research room. At this time, maps and atlases cannot be viewed online. Generally maps and atlases do not circulate although some may be sent to one of the 13 Area Research Centers <link> around the state for viewing.
- Your local library
- Local or County Historical Societies
- College and University Libraries
Property Tax Rolls
Type of Information Provided
Examine property tax rolls to discover original construction date, names of property owners and parcel.
Where to Look
Property tax rolls may be found at the local city or town Clerk’s or Assessor’s office. Property tax rolls may also be found at the County Clerk’s, Treasurer’s or Assessor’s office. If you contact the County Clerk, Treasurer or Assessor, be sure that the office is in the same county in which your building is located.
Start your search by contacting your local or county governmental offices. If the historic records have been transferred to other archives, the staff will let you know.