History of locations?

[caiteet]

Hello all! Hubby has the fun job of digging, and I help whenever I can. My main job in his hobby is research. Although I have had good luck finding out about certain bottles (that's how I found all of you!), I'm lost as to how I can find the history of a location. Most days, all I have is an address, so where should I start to find out the history of that address?

Thaks for any advice!

C

 

[privvydigger]

Neighbors...start with the old people....get as much info from live sources as you can. Usually there is someone on the block that been there their whole life. Then old maps and sanborn maps. The best way though is to dig em up and see what the privvy contains. Each privvy tells a story!
that's my two cents
privvydigger

 

[caiteet]

Thanks! He has asked specifically about one location from last week. It is an old twin that has since been converted to apartments, as most of the houses in this neighborhood have been. They pulled medicine after medicine. wondering if it was a doctor's office / house or a pharmacist.

We've gotten copies of the old maps for the town where we live and he's ready to start banging on doors

 

[Jim]

By using a variety of resources, I have been able to find out a lot about the histories of most of the places I have dug at. It can be very challenging and time-consuming, but well worth the effort. The privies are indeed the best indicators, as they offer a first-hand look at a variety of items from the daily lives of the inhabitants. Finding out who those inhabitants actually were can be tough, but it can usually be done. Here is a list of the resources I use when researching sites.

-Old maps, atlases and land records from a variety of dates. I have ones from 1863, 1877, 1885, 1896, 1910 and 1923, and I use them all.

-Once you determine who the owners/occupants were, search the obituary archives at your local historical society. These are usually indexed, so you won't have to spend hours looking for specific people.

- Old city directories or business directories.

- Historical books or accounts, old or new. The old history books sometimes contain little details from very old historical records or just simple mentions that have since been forgotten or overlooked.

I hope this will be of some help. If you get one that really stumps you, try working on another one and come back to it later. Sometimes, especially at the historical society library, I find information when I'm not even looking for it! Good luck. I always like to hear from other diggers who are interested in researching and preserving the historical record. If you have any other questions, I would be happy to try my best to help. ~Jim

 

[appliedlips]

Jim has got it nailed.Censuses are the only other thing I would mention.

 

[Jim]

Good thinking, Doug. I don't know how I missed that one, I use them a lot. ~Jim

 

[bunchesofbottles]

The old city phone directories are pretty cool. I don't know if every city listed like mine but they used to put the # of people in household child, and occupations. I've found a few doctors and back then most worked from their home.
Amen to old folks! Best stories and I have yet to ask someone over 65 about their neighborhood and they're not willing to talk your ear off.