How can The St. Pete. Museum of History Archives help? Researching Your Home How can The St. Pete. Museum of History Archives help?

Marta Jones Librarian, Certified Archivist

Before you start your research What do you already know about your house? - info. from former owner, new neighbors, real estate agent What do you hope to learn? - how old is your house - original owner - “construction history”

Just to prepare you… How likely are you to find a photo of, or the blueprints for your house?

As you conduct your research Keep a list of resources you consult. If you stumble upon an interesting fact, write it down, and write down the source you got it from, you may not remember later. In fact, make notes as you go along!

SPMOH Flickr Homes Album

St. Petersburg City Directories Look up houses by address, starting in 1914 - shows resident, spouse, profession - e.g. asst. pastor of a local church Looking through City Directories can give you a better idea of the age of a house. - what is the oldest directory with the house listed

Neighborhood Maps Neighborhood Maps will give a layout of the neighborhood itself, often showing what it once looked like. One researcher remembered a section of houses close together in the neighborhood where she grew up.

Sanborn Maps Originally created to help insurance agents assess fire risks and establish premiums. Show size/shape of buildings, and often type of construction, e.g. brick, frame, adobe. 2 volumes late 1920’s to late 1930’s 3 volumes from 1951

What can a Sanborn Map tell you? May include clues to buildings/businesses no longer there. Once researcher discovered the front door to her house was originally on a different section of the house. This had changed the address when the location of the front door had moved.

Outside Sources Google News Archive news.google.com/newspapers - address may appear in society pages Census records, both U.S. and Florida - useful if you are looking for a resident - familysearch.org City Property Cards - construction/permit history of house - Laura Duvekot, City of St. Pete, will fill you in