[MassHistPres] records of old buildings

Tue Jun 20 16:07:17 EDT 2017

Another  possibility is the building permit records in the inspector of
buildings office,  Few towns go back as far as 1900, but it's worth a shot.
Typically these are indexed by street address.

John Worden 
Arlington HDC

-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of
masshistpres-request at cs.umb.edu
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 12:00 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: MassHistPres Digest, Vol 136, Issue 14

Send MassHistPres mailing list submissions to
	masshistpres at cs.umb.edu

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	masshistpres-request at cs.umb.edu

You can reach the person managing the list at
	masshistpres-owner at cs.umb.edu

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of MassHistPres digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership of Property
      (Melissa Totten)
   2. Re: Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership of Property
      (Ralph Slate)
   3. Re: Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership of Property
      (Henry Cooke)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 20:11:09 +0000
From: Melissa Totten <mtotten at walpole-ma.gov>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership of
	Property
To: "masshistpres at cs.umb.edu" <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Message-ID: <2311E90C-5C66-4D23-B272-B3D9FEE86018 at walpole-ma.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Dear colleagues,

I am a new member of Walpole?s HC, and I?m researching the history of a
property that is before the Commission for review. I have the town
assessor?s 2017 documents on the property, but no previous owners are
listed. This is the first time I?ve seen that. The building is known to be
ca. 1900.

Here?s a basic question:  Where do I go for documentation of the history of
ownership and changes made to the property? Would the most direct route be a
visit to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds? If anyone is an old hand at
this, I?d appreciate a pointer.

PS ? this building has not been inventoried for inclusion in MACRIS, but I?m
checking with other local history materials at our Library and the
Historical Society.

Thanks, all.
Melissa

Melissa Totten
Associate Member
Walpole Historical Commission
mtotten at walpole-ma.gov<mailto:mtotten at walpole-ma.gov>

????

When writing or responding, please remember that the Secretary of State's
Office has determined that email is a public record.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20170616
/a28e2cab/attachment.html>

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2017 18:02:02 -0400
From: Ralph Slate <slater at alum.rpi.edu>
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership
	of Property
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Message-ID: <fec9709d-8587-f8a5-5fdf-848cdba006d1 at alum.rpi.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

You can trace the deeds online here:

http://www.norfolkresearch.org/ALIS/WW400R.HTM?WSIQTP=SY00

It may not go back as far as you want, but the site does say it goes back to
at least 1900.

Ralph Slate
Springfield, MA

On 6/19/2017 5:54 PM, Melissa Totten wrote:
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I am a new member of Walpole?s HC, and I?m researching the history of 
> a property that is before the Commission for review. I have the town 
> assessor?s 2017 documents on the property, but no previous owners are 
> listed. This is the first time I?ve seen that. The building is known 
> to be ca. 1900.
>
> Here?s a basic question:  Where do I go for documentation of the 
> history of ownership and changes made to the property? Would the most 
> direct route be a visit to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds? If 
> anyone is an old hand at this, I?d appreciate a pointer.
>
> PS ? this building has not been inventoried for inclusion in MACRIS, 
> but I?m checking with other local history materials at our Library and 
> the Historical Society.
>
> Thanks, all.
> Melissa
>
>
> Melissa Totten
> Associate Member
> Walpole Historical Commission
> mtotten at walpole-ma.gov <mailto:mtotten at walpole-ma.gov>
>
> ????
>
> /When writing or responding, please remember that the Secretary of 
> State's Office has determined that email is a public record./
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact
Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE
LIST.
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
> ********************************

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 09:31:38 -0400
From: Henry Cooke <hcooke4 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership
	of Property
To: mtotten at walpole-ma.gov, masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Message-ID: <15cc5b39124-33e1-21c27 at webprd-a27.mail.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Using deeds is a good way to establish the chain of ownership of the
property if not the house.  Sometimes, the earlier deeds will mention a
house and specific buildings, but not always, and you can't always be sure
that the house mentioned is the one you are investigating, especially if it
was lost to fire, or otherwise rebuilt.  If you have access to good early
local maps that show house footprint, and Sanborn insurance maps, which
offer more details of construction, are also helpful resources.  In
determining a "century list" of houses in Randolph for our demolition bylaw,
consultant Kathleen Broomer utilized our Public Works Department's water
connection records, which went back to the 1880s. While no single resource
is the sole authority, by using them together, you can develop a better
understanding of the property and the buildings placed upon it, as well as
the neighborhood context.

Henry Cooke, Chairman
Randolph Historical Commission

-----Original Message-----
From: Melissa Totten <mtotten at walpole-ma.gov>
To: masshistpres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Mon, Jun 19, 2017 5:52 pm
Subject: [MassHistPres] Q: Short Cut to History of Deed/Ownership of
Property