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Hill Homes: A Lesson in House History

December 2nd, 2009 by Kyra Deblaker-Gebhard · 2 Comments · Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill is, by virtue of its age, filled with historic homes. You could live next to a home once frequented by a president or in a home designed by one of the District’s premiere, turn-of-the-century architects. So, if you are like me and you’ve often wondered about who once wandered the halls of your Hill home, your home’s history is doesn’t have to be a mystery anymore.

The D.C. Public Library Washingtoniana Division recently hosted a house history workshop sponsored by the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. At the workshop, District residents and history buffs alike learned the basics of researching one’s house history, from online research to exploring the stacks of the Washingtoniana Division located in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library.

Local historian Brian Kraft started the session by showing attendees how to use public records to trace a home’s history. “When researching your home’s history it is best to start with when your home was built, and you can do that by looking for the permit to build,” said Kraft. Researchers and residents can find everything from the architect of a home to the estimated cost to build the home when searching the Building Permits Database, which is available in the Washingtoniana Division or at the D.C. Historic Preservation Office.

Michele Casto, a Librarian with the D.C. Public Library who specializes in special collections, then showed attendees how to use library resources and resources at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. to learn more about the people who built and lived in the District houses we call home. Casto featured the City Directory in Washingtoniana, which is used to research District residents and homeowners from 1822 to 1974, as well as the Haines Criss-Cross directory for researching after 1974. Using these databases along with census data and vertical files located in the Washingtoniana Division, residents and researchers can learn specific details about builders, homeowners and even renters residing in a home’s English basement.

Next, Yvonne Carignan, library director and head of collections for the Kiplinger Research Library of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., showed workshop attendees a sampling of the Kiplinger Library’s collections. “The Kiplinger Library focuses on DC as a place to live” and those interested in their homes history can search the library—from the stacks to online databases—for “information about a home and information about the District’s many neighborhoods.”

Armed with the basics, tomorrow I will venture downtown to begin researching my home’s history, which I plan to share with readers. Until then, please tell The Hill is Home what you know about your home’s history.

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  • ET

    I work at the Library of Congress and have been doing my own history of my house and have a few thoughts on what we have.

    First, we have historic Haines directories, telephone books, and Lusk assessment directories. In our microfiche reading room we have directories covering:
    Washington, DC (1861-1941, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1960(
    Washington, DC Suburban (1912-1931)
    What is nice about these is that there is a section that goes by street and address and an alphabetical section. So you can find out who lived at your address and what they did for a living (sometimes even where they worked).

    We also subscribe to a database with the digitized Sanborn maps which are GREAT! as well as the Proquest database that has digitized the Washington Post (we have other databases that have digitized DC newspapers as well).

    On our website we have something called Chronicling America which – for free – has a limited run of DC papers roughly from the turn of the century. For some more modern (mid-late 20th century) there is the Historic Building Survey which doesn’t have every house but does have lots of photos (your house may be there). What is nice about this is that there are write ups that talk about the development of the neighborhood (or reservation). The one for Lincoln Park (HABS NO. DC-677) is very interesting.

    One thing to mention about the Historic Society is their fabulous Wymer Collection photos from mid century of the intersections of the city. I was able to see a photo of my house (I live on a corner) that validated what I though about the decorative elements on the front of the house.

  • C in DC

    The National Archives also holds many records for DC houses. I have copies of my house’s architectural drawings, among other things, that came from the Archives.