Some of this info may be limited to King County, but most counties will have an assessor's file, if you can find out how it is stored. In 1965 I did research through the assessor's files when they were still in the King County Court House on 3rd Ave in Seattle. Most of the information is "public records", though you may have to persist to view them. - jws vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Researching your Seattle home or building http://www.seattletimes.com/news/lifestyles/html98/reas_101298.html Posted at 03:49 a.m. PDT; Monday, October 12, 1998 1. Order the King County Assessors Property Record card and photograph from: Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch Pritchard-Fleming Building, Bellevue Community College 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue, WA 98007-6484; 425-373-3940 These archives house a photograph and general description of nearly every building in King County that existed in 1937 and those built between 1938 and 1972. They are organized by King County Assessor Parcel number (a k a Tax ID number) or brief legal description. The parcel number can be obtained by calling the Assessor's Office with the building's address, 206-296-7300. With parcel number or legal description, photographs may be ordered. 2. Get a list of building permits for the property from: The Department of Construction and Land Use Microfilm Library, Dexter Horton Building, 710 Second Ave., Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98104-1703 Building permits are organized by building address. Tell the clerk you are trying to locate the original building permit. 3. Check fire-insurance maps from: -- University of Washington Special Collections, Suzzallo Building, Newspapers and Microfilm Department 206-543-1939 -- Seattle Public Library Central Branch Humanities Department 1000 Fourth Ave., first floor 206-386-4625 Sanborn maps, compiled for fire insurance, provide information about a building's location and "footprint," as well as construction material, heating systems and number of floors. 4. Get list of owners from: -- Property Record Cards 1937-1972; Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch (as above) -- Assessment rolls, 1892-1941; Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch (as above) The Property Record Card gives a legal description; or call King County Department of Assessments at 206-296-7300 with the building's address. 5. Get lists of residents/occupants from: -- Seattle Polk Directories Reverse Directory sections (1938-1996), located at Seattle Public Library (as above) and UW Library Special Collections, Allen Library, 206-543-1929 -- Look up owners you know in Seattle Polk Directories' main sections (locations as above) Seattle Polk Directories were published nearly every year from the 1880s to 1996. They include alphabetical listings of Seattle residents and businesses; a classified business section organized under types of businesses; and, starting in 1938, a reverse directory, which listed every resident and business by his or her street address. 6. Follow leads on businesses and/or notable persons via: The Northwest Newspaper Card Index, located at Seattle Public Library (as above) and UW Library Special Collections (as above). These indexes include biographical, business and other subject- indexed information relating to local history. The collections were compiled independently and frequently contain different information. 7. Look for any published histories of your neighborhood. 8. Contact heirs of your building's occupants, neighborhood old-timers and long-time residents of the area. Compiled by house and building historian Greg Lange of History Link for the Nearby History program. For information about Nearby History classes, which are held at the Museum of History & Industry and at Seattle public libraries, contact Lorraine McConaghy at 206-324-1685, ext 23. --------------------------- E-mail Comments to Editor : Comments@seatimes.com The Seattle Times home page http://www.seattletimes.com/ Seattle Times: Table of Content http://www.seattletimes.com/news/ The Seattle Times: Search Archive http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/search.html The Seattle Times: Browse by date http://www.seattletimes.com/todaysnews/browse.html Permission requests and information http://www/seatimes.com/general/info.html Copyright (c) 1998 The Seattle Times Company http://www.seattletimes.com/news/general/copyright.html