Curious about your home’s history? Then join librarian and local historian Matthew Gilmore at 6:30 pm on Feb. 16 for Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Preservation Café: House History Research at Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse (201 F Street NE).
The first in a two-part series on house history research, the Preservation Café discussion will focus on researching a home’s history. Gilmore will outline the resources needed to document one’s home or building–including the use maps, tax records, and photographs to trace a home’s history.
The next Preservation Café will be held in April, when Gilmore will share the resources needed to document a home or building’s occupants, including city directories and census records. Together, these two Preservation Cafes will provide a primer to get you started in researching your historic home.
This program is free and open to the public.
Matthew Gilmore teaches an excellent workshop.
Do not believe what your deed says. I have no idea on how the wrong date on the city records happened, but I have proof that my house and the others on my street were built with people living in them, over 40 years before the city’s recorded deed date. Mr. Gilmore will tell you how to do that research.
I wish I’d seen this in time– we just bought an 1879 rowhouse near Eastern Market and I’d love to research its history. Any idea when there might be another workshop?
The “wrong date” on your city records is due primarily to a fire at City Hall in 1900. Lots of records were lost, so lots of homes will show 1900 as the date of record, even though they are actually older!