It’s one of those things I’ve always wanted to do but never got around to. I got goosebumps when we found old letters from the war in our Bed Stuy house. And I was equally excited when we found crack vials from the 80’s. It’s all part of the history!
If you’re not lucky enough to have found time capsules in your walls, there are some ways to figure out who was there before you.
Talk to the previous owners, tenants and neighbors. Local shopkeepers could be a good source if they’ve been there awhile. The guy at my local hardware store knows everyone and everything.
Public records include deeds, taxes and building permits. You’ll probably need to go to the County Clerk’s office and hit the library and historical society as well. Property Shark and ACRIS will get you started, but you won’t get very far.
The links below go into much more detail than I ever could. If all else fails, you can always hire a house genealogist.
Wiki How
Hunt Down Your Home’s History: CNN
Old House History
House Genealogy
Cyndi’s List
www.flickr.com
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Our town has a “town historian” and I hired one of his associates to do the leg work for me. Cost me about $70 and she unearthed a bunch of information. Turns out my house was the first house OWNED by a woman (oh the scandal!!) back in the day and that woman’s father wrote a book on religion and feminism (double scandal!). Love it.
Comment by iloveupstate.com — January 16, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Well, I like to think my Beacon house was once a brothel. I don’t know why. I just get those vibes. How’s that for scandal?
Wow, I’d pay $70, but I doubt they’d charge that little in Brooklyn. Probably even more in Beacon. Yeah, I know…that’s backwards.
Comment by RH — January 16, 2008 @ 10:38 am
Is the house in the posting in Kingston? It looks very familiar.
Comment by priscilla — January 16, 2008 @ 10:43 am
Why, yes, Priscilla, it is! Click on the photo for more info.
Comment by RH — January 16, 2008 @ 10:56 am
I love that area. Our lawyer has an office on Pearl Street in that neighborhood. Thanks for your great blog.
Comment by priscilla — January 16, 2008 @ 11:08 am
Our accountant is on Green. Which reminds me…I should be calling for an appointment.
Well, thanks for reading! And more importantly, commenting.
Comment by RH — January 16, 2008 @ 12:00 pm
Great Blog I always have a good time reading it. It’d be great if someone knew about this site www.earthlab.com ? I have used their carbon calculator and it seems pretty legit? Has anyone else used it? They are partners with live earth and Al Gore so it must be pretty credible? If anyone else has done digging on this let me know. Oh and I got a score of 289 on their test…lower than the average in my state! Whoop whoop!
Comment by alex — January 16, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
For Brooklynites, a possible source of information is the archives of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle online at the Brooklyn Public Library [http://brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle/]. I learned that the first owner of our house was the widow of one of the last Captains of the Brooklyn Public Force prior to consolidation with the City.
Comment by Xris (Flatbush Gardener) — February 4, 2008 @ 9:08 pm