| Author | Message | ||
     J123 |
I'm really curious to find out who built my house. I think it was built in the 50s but its filled with so many special features that make me wonder whether the first owner was also its architect. Is there any information I can get from the town's public records? If not, any other ideas? | ||
| Imacgrandma |
Can you contact the former owner or a relative? If the former owner now lives in an apartment or a retirement area, does a neighbor know where? Have you talked with your neighbors? Houses in the same area have often been built at about the same time. My home was bought from friends of my parents, and the son of these people once came here to visit his old home. | ||
| Gerardryan |
Your town probably has records in its building department You may be able to see the builder and the architect's names on the records there. If the builder was the owner... then you have all the information, otherwise you have to find out who the builder transferred the house to. Your tax assessor may have property record cards with ownership history back that far. Or you can go to the County Register of Deeds and Mortgages in Newark and try to look up your deed information. | ||
| Barleyrooty |
The library has information on prior sales. We got all the sale prices ever for our house along with some pictures. | ||
| Tabby |
When I was on jury duty in Newark I went to the Hall of Records and looked up my house, starting with us and working my way back to the first owners in 1926. Fascinating! I have always been interested to know what my house looked like when it was new, what color it was painted, what the interior looked like (can just imagine some nice Art Deco furniture). We learned that our garage was built a few years after the house, not everyone had cars yet. Good luck! Tabby | ||
| Joancrystal |
1. The title search which was done when you bought your house might give you some leads as to prior owners, who are still alive and could provide you with information. 2. You can ask your neighbors what they know about the house. Shortly after we moved into our house we met a neighbor who grew up on our street. As a girl, she played with the daughter of the original owner of our house. We learned a lot about the house's history from her. 3. You can just sit back and let the information regarding your house's history come to you. One day, a police car pulled up in front of our house and uniformed officer told us that he had grown up in our house and asked if he could see it again. More history regarding the house in later years was learned from that encounter. 4. Books, newspaper archives, old maps, and municipal and county records may also be of help. | ||
| Algebra2 |
Joan ... I was just on the phone with my mom who grew up in Milton, Mass. A new guy started at her office and said he was from Milton ... led to what neighborhood, what street, what number --- he is living in the house she grew up in. Sort if neat. She just told me this story this afternoon. | ||
| Bobk |
We had an intersting experience along these lines in 1991 when a gentleman showed up at our door and told us he had grown up in our house. He lived in Seattle and was back for his 50th high school reunion at Columbia. We showed him around and he filled us in on the changes that had been made over the years. He moved here in 1925 or 1926 and cleared up a few "mysteries" such as where the original garage had been and that the back six feet of the house was indeed an addition. Interesting experience. "Welcome to the Twilight Zone". | ||
| enigmabomb Citizen Username: Enigmabomb Post Number: 273 Registered: 7-2001 |
I went to a doctor once, and he saw that I lived a few houses up from where he did. He told me his best friend lived where we do, and he had spent many an hour in my den. Sometimes history sneaks up on you... -enigmabomb- | ||
| sac Citizen Username: Sac Post Number: 734 Registered: 5-2001 |
There are directories in the Maplewood library that are sorted by address from a good portion of the 1900s, maybe even earlier. My daughter looked up the entries for our home address as part of a Brownie Troop project a few years ago. I don't recall the name of the directory, but I'm sure that the reference desk librarian could point you in the right direction. | ||
| Brian O'Leary Citizen Username: Brianoleary Post Number: 1187 Registered: 3-2002 |
This doesn't really help research a particular house, but when we moved into our home in 1987, one of our neighbors (three houses down), the wife of a retired couple, told us that she had been born on Ward Place, moved as a girl to Seton Place, and then married and moved to her "dream house" on College Place. She knew the whole history not just of our house, or of our block, but of our neighborhood. Once, I replaced a ceiling fan in her kitchen, and she told me a riotously funny story about a prior owner of our house that dare not be typed into MOL. Sometimes, the information of greatest significance is in the heads and hearts of our neighbors. I do miss Lucille. | ||
| kathy Citizen Username: Kathy Post Number: 529 Registered: 5-2001 |
You can trace sales/purchases of your house backwards from your own purchase by looking at your deed, which should say something like "the same property purchased by [seller] as recorded in Book X, page xxx of the Essex County Registry of Deeds." You go to the Hall of Records in Newark and look up that previous deed, which will refer you to the previous one, etc. At some point you should get to one that says "part of the same property" etc., which will indicate a subdivision and the probable time that the house was built. At each stage the deed will give you the names of the buyers and sellers, and will tell you where the buyers previously resided. | ||
| kmk Citizen Username: Kmk Post Number: 206 Registered: 5-2001 |
Maplewood Public Library, main branch, plain old phone directories list all sorts of info on the prior residents of your house. They have a reverse look-up where you look up the address. You are then told (much like a census) whether the home has a phone, who the head of household is, where he (she) is employed, what position, what other members of the family live there etc. The directories go on to list forwarding addresses, sons in the military, wives become widows etc. Absolutely fascinating and a must for any home owner. There are also the famous photo files from an old real estate office in town. Many, many pics of all the houses in town. Often more than one.....sale of house in 1926, sale of house in 1955, etc. | ||
| parkah Citizen Username: Parkah Post Number: 133 Registered: 1-2003 |
so we've found the name of the people who originally owned our house, but now, how do we find their living ancestors? we'd love to be able to ask them questions about the house and possibly see old photos, etc. thanks. | ||
| Camnol Citizen Username: Camnol Post Number: 36 Registered: 3-2005 |
I've done a good bit of research on the history of my house (I was avoiding unpacking!). I started in the library with the realtor file (ask the reference librarian). Then I spent a few hours with the old phone directories. Once I had that, I spent many obsessive hours with the online NY Times Historical Database. Through the database I was able to find the wedding announcement (1897) for the original owners of our house, birth announcements, obituaries (the original owner died in the house and the funeral was held in the home), announcements of luncheons that were held in our house (it's amazing what was newsworthy back then!). The original owner's son was active in the Strollers, and I have the announcements of the plays that he was in. There are classified ads advertising different developments in our area... It's an amazing resource, if you are into that sort of thing. I noted in the "what have you found.." section that I found love letters in our attic that were written in the late 30s. They were written by the 2nd owner of our house. I was able to track down their daughter, who now lives in Seattle. I sent her her mother's letters (they were written to her father) and she sent me pictures of the house from when she was little, drew me a sketch of the original kitchen... It was a great experience! | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 7832 Registered: 1-2003  |
Camnol, are you for hire? | ||
| Camnol Citizen Username: Camnol Post Number: 40 Registered: 3-2005 |
Gosh, Tom. Never thought about that. Hmm, something to ponder. | ||
| Pizzaz Supporter Username: Pizzaz Post Number: 2084 Registered: 11-2001  |
A view of South Orange, NJ in 1907. The DL&W (rail service - Lacka Wanna) runs from left to right in front of the trolley cars. The trolleys cannot cross the DL&W, so they meet on opposite sides of the main. If you look closely, Bunny's is pictured.  http://el-list.elhts.org/archives/gksorange.jpg | ||
| Erin Cartman Citizen Username: Carnac Post Number: 17 Registered: 5-2005 |
Pizzaz - So the center of the picture is where the tracks are today just raised up.... right? So Bunny's is to the north of the trolleys? | ||
| Pizzaz Supporter Username: Pizzaz Post Number: 2133 Registered: 11-2001 |
The picture points west. So Bunny's is south of the trolley (left center on the picture). BTW: Back then it was a dry goods retail establishment. The bar business did not start until 1934 after prohibition. I believe the original license is listed as the third one in New Jersey to be issued after prohibition. | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 2074 Registered: 6-2001  |
That is so cool, Pizzaz. The grade on South Orange Ave. doesn't look as steep, and that must be Mead Street off to the right. You can also see Church Street and some of the houses that were torn down for the transit lot. Definitely a keeper! Thanks! | ||
| sullymw Citizen Username: Sullymw Post Number: 731 Registered: 5-2001  |
they had color photos in 1907?? | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 9031 Registered: 5-2001 |
Hand painted ones, yeah. | ||
| sullymw Citizen Username: Sullymw Post Number: 734 Registered: 5-2001 |
Oh yeah, I didn't look closely enough  |
