Location Research Tips

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The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and where the other begins...
- Edgar Allan Poe

Places to Locate Information about the Location

Land Deeds

Locate the land records at your county office or your local historic society. This information will be list with the most current first and it will go backwards. The deed records the transfer of the ownership from a seller to a buyer and will give you the sellers name, marital statues and address and the size of the land and the cost. It will help to verify or clarify any information provided such as the names of ghosts the homeowner may've heard whispered in their ear or stated by a psychic.

Remember the deeds are for the land and not for the home. Most of the deeds will not mention the buildings on the land. Also just because someone's name is not on the deed does not mean that they did not live there. The building might have been a rental unit at one time, they may've been a relative living there such as an in-law or child, or a hired hand.

City Directories

Try checking with your city hall or Government Center for a city directories. These are books that have name, address, and occupations of the people who were living at that address during a certain year. This is a great way to see who the owners were at the house for each year to the time it was built.

Libraries

Libraries will have a list for obituaries and what date they appeared in the newspaper. With this you can then find out how the person is tied in to the location. If a death, murder or suicide happened then a police report was filed about it. The police report and the coroners report are public information and can be viewed by anyone.

Maps / Plat Maps

These can be found at your local register of deeds office. These maps will cover the neighborhood and will include survey information when the roads were built. Also as you view these you can go backward in time and see how the location changed.

Historical Societies

This is one of the best sources to find information about a location or a person. You can get copies of census that were done in that area. Also it is a great wealth of information about the history of the town / county. They will have information on any outbreaks of diseases. If you subscribe to an online genealogy service, you may be able view these online and actually download a copy.

Cemeteries

There are many types of cemeteries. Most cemeteries will have a caretakers office, unless it is a small or in a small town.

Church Cemetery
These will have old plots, and the graves may not be in a straight line. Some of these will have the graves of those who were nuns or priests. Also most of these are in the rural areas.
Garden Cemetery
These are park like in appearance. They have large statuary and monuments.
Rural Cemetery
These small cemetery's will have very little in the way of large monuments and can be found along highways, dirt roads, on small hills, near lakes or swamps. These are a true piece of history of the area.
Urban Cemetery
These can be public areas that are run by the cities themselves or a private company who will own and run the cemeteries.
Military Cemetery
This is were those who have served our country are laid to rest. All of the makers are in rows and with a plain headstone.
Potter's Fields
This is were the local cities or county would buried the poor, unknown, criminals and ect. They were buried in mass graves with little to no maker.
State Hospital Cemetery
These are similar to a potters cemetery but the people are buried are in single plots with a small headstone that will have the following information: date of birth, date of death, the persons initials and the persons identification number. Finding information on these people is a little hard to get due to privacy laws.