In question & answer format, this presentation introduces the most frequently-consulted sources for establishing the history of a house or building. Learn how you can determine the date built, who built it, and more.

1. House History Research:
Frequently Asked Questions
Research Library
Cynthia Van Ness, MLS
Director of Library & Archives
#BuffaloHistory

2. How to visit us
 1 Museum Court
 North of Rt.198
off Elmwood Ave.
 Free parking &
bike rack
 On #20 bus line

3. Our Building
Designed by George Cary in 1901, for the Pan-American
Exposition, a National Historic Landmark since 1987

4. Admission
 Free to Museum members & US veterans
 Students & seniors: $5.00
 $10.00 for all others

5. Library Hours
 Wednesdays through Saturdays
 1-5 pm
 Plus 6-8 pm on Wednesday evenings
 No appointments necessary

6. Library Collections at a Glance
 Collecting since 1862
 20,000+ books
 200,000 photographs
 3,000 manuscript collections
 6,000 microfilms
 Vertical/Pamphlet file
 Clippings file
 About 10,000 maps, plans, prints & drawings

7. Professionally Staffed
 A genuine librarian is on
duty during all public
service hours
 Ready to assist with house
research!

8. A Few Rules
 Library materials may not be borrowed or removed from
room
 Purses, backpacks, briefcases, etc., are stored in our new
cube lockers
 Please bring valid photo ID to use manuscript material
 Most oversized flat material is stored off site. Retrievals
are scheduled once a week.

9. Touch Screen Sign-In
We ask for name,
address, phone or email,
and what you’re
researching today

10. Please, No Food or Drink

11. Please take calls outside the Library

12. Pencils only, please

13. Technology on Site
 Free Wifi, laptops & tablets welcome
 One online catalog/internet workstation
 Photocopying done by staff if size & condition
permit, $.25/page

14. Technology on Site
 Two microfilm reader-printers, $.25/page
 One microfilm scanner, courtesy of the Western
NY Genealogical Society
 Bring a USB flash drive

15. We have lots of these!

16. Questions We’ll Try to Answer
1. How do I get started?
2. When was my street built?
3. When was my house built?
4. Who designed my house?
5. Who lived in my house?
6. Is any of this stuff online?

17. Architectural Research Sources
Major Architectural
History Sources
Research Library
The Buffalo History Museum
1 Museum Court
Buffalo, NY 14216
library@buffalohistory.org
October 2016
www.buffalohistory.org
A.
When built?
B.
1st owner?
C.
Designer?
D.
Occupants?
E.
Appearance?
1 Architect's Records, Plans, Drawings
We have mostly public buildings; very few houses X X X X
2 Atlases
Published roughly once per decade, 1850-1960 X
3 Buffalo City Directories
Address section in back starts in 1930 X
4
Buffalo Common Council Proceedings
Use these to find building permits X X
5 Census Records
Addresses are recorded starting in 1880 X
6 Obituaries & Death Notices
Our card file has about 99,000 names X
7 Photographs
We have about 30,000 house & building photos X
8 Social Directories
These are limited to upper-income households X X
9 Suburban Directories
Hardly any were published before the 1950s X
10 Your Deed or Abstract of Title
Might help you find a building permit X
http://tinyurl.com/TBHM-ArchGrid

18. Gentle reminder about historical
research

19. Architectural History Sources
 Buffalo Atlases
 Erie County Atlases
 Directories—city, social
 Buffalo Common Council Proceedings
 Photographs
 Obituaries
 Census Records
 Business Records from Architectural Firms

20. 1. How do I get started?
 Bring your deed or Abstract of Title if you have one

21. Abstract of Title
 Often acquired as part of the closing
 Might go all the way back to the Holland
Land Company, ca. 1804
Example from our collection:
Mss. A2013-02
Will, Abstract of Title, and Survey of Cyrus P. Lee

22. True or False?
 Millard Fillmore lived in my house. It says so
on my deed.
 False
 My house was built in 1804. It says so on my
deed.
 False

23. 2. When Was My Street Built?
 Index to Records…
City of Buffalo, 1896
 F 129 .B8 I42 1896

24. Sample Page from Index to Records
 Lists every tiny little
bureaucratic action
taken on every City
street up to 1896
 Includes canals,
railroads, gas
companies, etc.

25. 3. When Was My House Built?
 City directories
 Social directories
 Buffalo Common Council proceedings
 Atlases

26. Buffalo City Directories
 Published annually, with some gaps
 We have 1828 to 2001 in hard copy
 Online versions are collected at:
BuffaloResearch.com/onlinedirectories.html

27. Sample City Directory Page
 Look up the names on your deed
 Last name, first name,
occupation, address
 Women rarely listed until the
1920s
 Children omitted until around age
18
 No photocopying from directories

28. Special Section in City Directories
 Reverse address section:
look your street and see
each business or
resident
 This feature began in
1929

29. Social Directories
 Dau’s Buffalo Blue Book
 Buffalo Address Book &
Family Directories
 Omitted immigrant &
working class
neighborhoods such as the
East side

30. Buffalo Address Book & Family
Directories
 Good starting point!
 Ideal for West side houses
 Published 1880-1916
 Has an address section like
the city directories
 On microfilm & online
 http://tinyurl.com/BHM-
addressbooks

31. Buffalo Address Book & Family
Directories
Online at:
http://tinyurl.com/
BHM-
addressbooks

32. Dau’s Buffalo Blue Book
 Published 1898-1940
 Has an address section
 In hard copy only
 Not digitized or online
1903

33. Suburban Directories
 Erie County & Suburban:
1927, 1929, 1931, 1949,
1959-2001
 Very little village, town, or
rural coverage prior to
1959
 Not digitized or online

34. Your tax dollars at work
Buffalo Common Council Proceedings

35. Buffalo Common Council Proceedings
 Include building
permits!
 1832-1899 on microfilm
 1854-1996 hard copy
 Permits are listed by name
1832-1907
 Permits are listed by
address starting in 1908

36. Buffalo Common Council Proceedings
 Over 25 editions are
online here:
https://goo.gl/pyTcu6

37. Buffalo Atlases
These may help narrow down a date range for
when your house was built

38. 1866 Emslie Atlas
 Only at TBHM, not
online
 6 vols. arranged by ward
 Shows land owner names
more than building
footprints

39. 1868 Buffalo Sanborn Atlas
 Shows individual
buildings
 Shows only the
downtown core
 Only at TBHM, not
online
 More Buffalo Sanborns,
1880-1950

40. 1872 Hopkins Atlas
 First atlas to show individual buildings for entire city of
Buffalo
 Online at http://tinyurl.com/Buff1872a and
http://tinyurl.com/Buff1872b

41. 1884 Hopkins Atlas
 Shows individual
buildings
 Not digitized or online

42. 1894 American Atlas
 Online at http://tinyurl.com/Buff1894

43. 1894 American Atlas
 City of Buffalo
 Three volumes
 Online at:
http://tinyurl.com/Buff1894

44. Erie County Atlases

45. 1866 Stone & Stewart Atlas
 Erie County
 Shows property owner names
 Shows buildings as tiny black
squares
 Online at
http://tinyurl.com/Erie1866

46. 1880 Beers Atlas
 Erie County
 Shows property owner names
 Shows individual buildings as
tiny black squares
 Online at
http://tinyurl.com/Erie1880a
 http://tinyurl.com/Erie1880b

47. 1909 New Century Atlas
 Erie County
 Shows property owner names
 Shows buildings as little
black squares
 Online at
http://tinyurl.com/Erie1909

48. 4. Who Designed My House?
 Not every dwelling is the work of a private
architect
 Inexpensive house plans have been available by
mail–order since before the Civil War
 Plus there popular house types (think ranch
house!) that are designed & built by developers

49. 5. Who Lived In My House?
 Get out your deed, if you have one
 City Directories
 Social Directories
 Census Records
 Obituaries

50. Census Records

51. Erie County 1810-1930
 Arranged geographically
 Ours are on microfilm
 Names everyone in the household, 1850-1930
 But addresses are not listed until 1880

52. 1940 Census is online
 Released to the public in 2012
 Go to National Archives website:
 http://1940census.archives.gov/

53. Federal Census Indexes
 1790-1850 New York State
 1850 Black Rock
 1860 Erie County & Upstate NY
 1890 NY State Veterans
 In print, not online

54. Obituaries
Sometimes they are the only available biographical
information about an individual

55. Obituary Index 1811-2001
 Check the names on your
deed
 99,000 names in a card file
 Name, date of death,
occupation
 Newspaper where obituary is
found
 Does not list everyone who
ever lived or died here
 Not digitized or online

56. Newspapers
 Buffalo’s first
newspaper began in
1811
 We have local
newspapers 1811 to the
present on microfilm

57. 6. What Did My House Look Like?
 Pictures & Photographs
 Plans & Drawings

58. Pictures & Photographs
 Only at TBHM, not online
 About 30,000 house &
building pictures
 Houses are in A-Z order by
street name
 Most date from1870-1970
 We do not have every single
house or building in Buffalo

59. Using Our Photographs
 Photocopies are $.25, black & white only
 Museum-quality reproductions available by special order
 We scan only for publication, exhibition, or academic use
 Rate sheet is downloadable from our website
 May not be put online without our permission

60. Records from Architectural Firms
I have good news and bad news.

61. Plans & Drawings
 The bad news is…
 Most architectural firms, like most businesses,
come and go without their records being saved

62. Plans & Drawings
 The good news: We have drawings and/or business records
from:
 George Cary, pre-1945
 Esenwein & Johnson, 1882-1942
 Green & Wicks / James, Meadows & Howard, 1893-1971
 Duane Lyman, 1923-1975
 North & Shelgren, 1909-1994
 John A. Ort, 1950-1967

63. Plans & Drawings
 The bad news is that they are
almost all are for schools,
churches, hospitals & other
public buildings
 The few house drawings are for
upscale residences
 So, 99% of the time, we do not
have your house plans

64. Is Any of This Stuff Online?

65. www.buffalohistory.org
 Click on Research
Library under our
slide show

66. FRANK, Our Online Catalog
http://tinyurl.com/frank-catalog
Lists over 28,000 books & other text-based works

67. Buffalo Architecture Index
 2,400 buildings and their architects in address order.
Online at http://tinyurl.com/TBHM-ArchitectureGrid

68. Buffalo Architecture Map
 1,200 addresses Google-mapped and color-coded by
architect. At the Library’s Online Collections page.

69. BuffaloResearch.com
 Built in Buffalo
 Buffalo Maps
 Buffalo Directories
 An on-my-own-time
project

70. TBHM on Tagpacker.com
 Browse our bookmarks! 1200+ links sorted into
categories or tags
 https://tagpacker.com/user/buffalo.history.museum.
research.library

71. New Picture Store!
 Our new online storefront offers museum-quality
reproductions for home or office décor
 BuffaloHistoryStore.org

72. Sanborn Maps at BECPL
 www.buffalolib.org
 Click on Research
 Enter library card # at
top of page
 Scroll down to
Sanborn Maps

73. Bonus search trick
 Open Google Books: http://books.google.com
 Search on your address like this, using quotation
marks:
 “123 Main” Buffalo

74. One question we can’t answer
 “Did something bad happen in my house?”
 Crime stories are usually indexed by the names
of victims, not by address

75. Questions?
 library@buffalohistory.org
 (716) 873-9644 x 306
 For best results, call Wednesdays through Saturdays,
1-5 pm
 www.buffalohistory.org
 Hashtag this: #BuffaloHistory
Research Library
Buffalo History Museum
1 Museum Court
Buffalo, NY 14216