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

2. Marta Jones Librarian, Certified Archivist

3. 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”

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

5. 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!

6. SPMOH Flickr Homes Album

7. St. Petersburg City Directories
Look up houses by address, starting in 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

8. 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.

9. 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

11. 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.

12. 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