# Finding out the history of a building? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447 "2003-08-25T03:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/1 "2003-08-25T03:46:26Z")
I just moved into an apartment in a place that was built around the turn of the century. There are all sorts of weird structural things about the building; and the resident manager speculates that the building was originally two buildings built right next to each other. I’d like to know the whole story of this place, just out of curiousity. The people who work at the property company main office are rather chilly, and I don’t see them having little spiral-bound packets of Neat Building Stories to pass out to people. Someone else suggested possibly reading through microfiche at the city library. Would there be some way to put a street address into a database or something? (I checked on google, and it’s not a historic building with a listing in a historical society or anything, just a real old building.) ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/2 "2003-08-25T03:53:41Z")
I don’t know, but I’d suggest going to a library and just finding old detailed city maps to start with. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/3 "2003-08-25T04:37:48Z")
The only clue I can offer about the two-building thing is this: Usually if they were seperate buildings, they would each have their own seperate sewer pipes leaving independent of eachother. I’m sure the other utilities would be the same too but sewers are burried into the ground and often as old as the building. Redundant utility access lids in the sidewalks would be a sign of that too. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/4 "2003-08-25T05:19:23Z")
Try the local historical society. Their archivist might be able to give you the history of the building, especially if it had any local importance. You could also go to the court house. Often, they have property records which stretch far back in the city’s history. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/5 "2003-08-25T08:24:46Z")
Talk to Kathryn Rankin in the Madison City Planners Office. She’s the unofficial (maybe now official?) building historian for the city of Madison. She has a lot of research available, or can point you in the right direction for you curiousity. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/6 "2003-08-25T08:26:49Z")
The Madison Department of Planning and Development is in the basement of the Madison Municipal Building, across from the City-County Building. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/7 "2003-08-25T12:35:08Z")
You should be able to find tax records (including a description of the property) in the City Assessor’s Office. In Richmond, they have photographs attached to each work card and a detailed description of construction. It will also tell you ownership changes, prices, and assessed values throughout the years. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/8 "2003-08-25T14:07:21Z")
**plnr** , the City of Madison Assessor’s Office does not keep those kinds of historical records. As I said above, the Department of Planning and Development does. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-out-the-history-of-a-building/197447/9 "2003-08-25T16:32:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > **Try the local historical society. Their archivist might be able to give you the history of the building, especially if it had any local importance.** This is excellent advice. I located the house my great-grandfather built in Portland by doing this.