BlockHow to research the history of a house in Massachusetts
Build a file from documents that name the property, its owners, and its changes over time. Start with a street address, municipality, and approximate construction date. Treat each clue as a lead until you can connect it to a cited record.
A careful starting sequence
- Search the Massachusetts Historical Commission inventory map and record system. The public MassGIS layer identifies inventory records and links to MHC materials where available.
- Use the Registry of Deeds, assessor records, building permits, city directories, and newspapers to create a dated chain of ownership and change.
- Compare historic maps and photographs with the address. Record map title, year, publisher, page or sheet, and the stable source URL.
- Separate a documented fact from an inference. A matching address, name, or map label is stronger evidence than a visual resemblance alone.
Work with your copies
Use a workspace to compare map copies. Keep the archive or agency record as the citation of record.
Open a map workspace in MAPb2