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Diana Kohn is Takoma Park's unofficial historian. Diana is also a longtime environmental activist who works at the Institute for Environmental Energy Research. |
What's the history of your home?
People trace their family history as a way to learn about the past. You can do the same thing by tracing the history of your house. Who lived in your house before you? Did they have any children? What was the neighborhood like? Who built the house and how much did it cost?
What do you need to do?
Much like a genealogical quest for your own family tree, it is a combination of gathering the stories people tell (in this case the neighbors or the local historical society) along with the documents that confirm the stories (deeds and tax records, even census data). In this age of computers it is possible to do much of this on the internet, although sooner or later you’ll end up spending time is an archives or a government records office.
Where do you start?
The best place to begin is with what you already know. As genealogists will tell you, the more information, names, dates, you have, the more leads you can find. You already have a wealth of information from the documents involved in buying your house. Title insurance, which is mandatory in Maryland, provides the basic history of who owned the property, with names and dates. A key detail like the plat number and block and lot number are important, since street addresses are subject to renumbering.
The previous owner or the real estate agent may have related stories about the house, since this is often a selling point. Neighbors are also a great source of information. Did the houses on your street all go up at the same time? Or was there a progression of development? I’m lucky to have a neighbor on my block who has lived there most of her life. She tells great stories about growing up on the street, the kids who played there, and what Takoma was like back then which makes the time come alive. Her stories detail each house on the block, including the earlier occupants of our lot, although our house wasn’t built until 1980. So ask around your neighborhood.
What does the architecture tell you?
The architectural style of your house can be a useful clue to the circumstances of its construction, but it can be misleading. Builders often chose to mimic older styles especially when filling in between two older houses. In an effort to blend in, the house may look older than it really is. The building materials and construction techniques often provide better clues. This is especially true if you suspect that your house may have come from a Sears catalog or one of their several competitors. The supporting beams of Sears houses are stamped for easy identification (with some exceptions). Must reading for those interested in the whole Sears catalog period is The Houses That Sears Built by Rosemary Thornton.
Seek out historical societies
Local historical societies are a short cut to finding information because much of the relevant material has already been gathered, and the folks are ready to help you navigate through the system. Each has a website if you want to check out what’s available before you visit, but it is well worth a trip in person.
Montgomery County
These are two excellent resources in Montgomery County:
• Montgomery County Historical Society, located in Rockville, at 103 W. Montgomery Avenue has a brief guide to researching property, available online at www.montgomeryhistory.org. In addition to the photographs, maps and wills, and census data located at 103 W. Montgomery Avenue, it is in charge of all county government records since 1948. This archives is located at the Red Brick Courthouse, 29 Courthouse Square in Rockville.
• Historic Takoma Inc. is unique in that it covers three geographic areas: the portion of the District that is Takoma DC, the portion of Prince George’s County that was once part of Takoma Park (now incorporated into Montgomery County), and the section of Montgomery County within Takoma Park borders. Its photograph archives chronicle the houses in both Takoma DC and Takoma Park Maryland. In addition, the house-by-house surveys done to obtain Historic District status (one on each side of the boundary) provide some details about the houses, but are not an extensive record. And finally, there is a wealth of information about what life was like here over the years. Currently, the archives is in storage while Historic Takoma searches for permanent space for the collection. Public access is limited but there is an online inventory as part of its webpage, found at www.historictakoma.org. Some, but not all, of the house photographs are available here. You can also use the website to ask specific questions and Historic Takoma will do their best to answer.
Prince George's County
For those who live in the small slice of Takoma Park that was Prince George’s until 1999, research is more complicated. Records since annexation are now housed in Rockville, but prior records are still held in Prince George’s.
First stop is Prince George Historical Society, where there is a guide for How to Research a Property and a list of research sources. The society can be found at www.pghistory.org. The library has a wealth of information: maps (including the 1940 Franklin Atlas), community histories, vertical files and photographs on hundreds of properties. Note that the library is only open on Saturdays from noon-4 PM.
The Maryland Room in Hyattsville Library, 6530 Adelphi Road, has census data, city directories and land records (but is more limited to the Hyattsville area.) Go to www.pgcmls.info/SpColl/Maryland/Maryland Room if you want to visit by web first.
Washington, DC
Residents in the District of Columbia (including Takoma DC) will need to look at three sources:
• Historical Society of Washington, (www.citymuseumdc.org) has a research guide available online at . Among their important resources is the John P. Wymer Collection of 4000 photographs chronicling nearly each block of the city in the later 1940s and early 1950s (including some in Takoma DC).
• Washingtoniana Division, third floor Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW, is an especially good source of maps, building permits, city directories and census records.
• Local historian Matthew Gilmore, who runs the long-standing, web-only H-DC network, has assembled a wide array of links to maps and other resources about DC neighborhoods. at www.h-net.org/~dclist.
In Part Two, we will look at the various kinds of official documents available and how to reconcile the “official” information with historical recollections.
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House History Case History: Sometimes researching a house history turns up more questions than answers. Anna and Drew Sommers’ Carroll Avenue house is across from the Adventist hospital and college and they know that it was once occupied by Drs. Daniel and Lauretta Kress. But it is unclear when the Kresses moved in (they arrived in Takoma Park in 1907). The official title is dated 1928, but there is an aerial view dated 1918, which shows the house. Other details support the earlier date: gas fixtures-converted-to-electricity, interior features like pocket doors, and the materials used for the roof indicate a date earlier than 1928. Besides, it is hard to square the 1928 date with the Adventist tradition that Sister Ellen White, the guiding force behind the Church, stayed in the house while visiting Takoma Park for a church General Conference. She died in 1915. A future story will report on Anna and Drew’s efforts to resolve the conflict. |
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