This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: RBestrom7380 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.washington.counties.snohomish/5224.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Sally, I don't know what specifically you are seeking; but here are some suggestions: 1. Obtain his obituary. If published it may identify any family members, the names of his children, etc. Use them as potential contacts. They may have photo's of the old place, the house, etc. ---The Washington State Library has a free research service, the ask-a-librarian program, where they will look for information in the archives, in this case the newspaper microfilm for an event, such as an obituary. They will look up to an hour and send you the results. Contact them at: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/ask.aspx . 2. Your property is in the Olympus 1 - Division No 4, Volume 36 of Plats. The recording dates of June 26, 1975, indicates when the property was probably divided from a larger property. Your house was built in 1977. I would suggest the county Assessors office for more information on the original ownership of your property. http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Assessor/ Any of the original "agreements" "may" also be on file at that office. You don't have a stipulation on your own property record concerning that agreement. The Assessor's office may be able to provide old plat maps. But, since you are in Snohomish County and the aerial photo shows even this area is highly dense, they may not have much time to research for you. There certainly isn't much land today that hasn't been converted into housing. It is a nice wooded area near your residence, the May's Park. I can't tell from the aerial photo what's beneath the trees. At least you don't live near those high tension power lines. 2. Your property is in the Olympus 1 - Division No 4, Volume 36 of Plats. The recording dates of June 26, 1975, indicates when the property was divided. I would suggest you contact the county Assessors office for more information on the original ownership of your property. http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Assessor/ Any of the original "agreements" "may" also be on file at that office. You don't have a stipulation on your own property record concerning that agreement. The Assessor's office may be able to provide old plat maps. But, since you are in Snohomish County and the aerial photo shows even this area is highly dense, they may not have much time to research for you, but they may offer valid suggestions. AND, you don't have to pay them research fee's. There certainly isn't much land today that hasn't been converted into housing. It is a nice wooded area near your residence. At least you don't live near those high tension power lines. For an aerial photo of your property, go to www.mapquest.com, enter your property address and switch to Aerial. For a topo map, go to: http://www.esg.montana.edu/gl/trs-data.html Change the state to Washington. Enter 27 as Township, 05 as Range, and 8 as Section. After the first window (you can see some of the area places), click on "Switch to Terra Server" In TerraServer, you'll first see an older aerial map (2002), you can zoom in or out to see your street, etc. I'd suggest clicking on the largest block for Size. When you finish the aerial map, click on Topo Map. Making sure you are in the largest block for size. Find "Winter " and the 527 in red and circled in red. You'll see that area is enclosed in a red block. Click inside the red block to the right of that block. Now click on that block again. Now, you will see a red 8 in the middle. This is Section 8 where your home is located. Unfortunately, there are no older plat maps online. Your local library may have old plat maps. They may have an old photo section. Some libraries, like the Tacoma library near me, has an area just for genealogy records and books relating to local history, etc. Sounds like an interesting project. Ron Bestrom Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.