History, Architecture and Land Use Resources: Uncovering the History of Your Place
Conducting historical, architectural, and land use research to tell the story of
buildings and neighborhoods is a crucial first step in the preservation advocacy process.
Use the following sources to pull together the records, photographs, and news-clippings
that will allow you to find the story at the heart of your place.
While many of the links below are specific to New York City, other cities may have similar
resources and repositories.
Zoning and Land Use Maps - Using your building’s address, find the block and lot number. This will be a useful identifier for the property that you can use to search in addition to the address going forward.
New York City's Zoning & Land Use Map (ZoLa)- interactive online map.
Land Books - Another municipal record that may be of use to find lot size usually available physically at municipal offices like the Brooklyn Business Center.
Historic Maps - Comparing maps over time allows you to get an understanding of the date of construction, development of the neighborhood, transportation dynamics, and so much more.
NYC Fire Insurance, Topographic and Property Maps - Fire insurance maps are particularly helpful as they may indicate what the building was made out of and show additions or changes to the property over the years.
Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
Conveyance Records - Documenting the transfer of ownership of land, these records list the parties involved in the transfer, the date, and sometimes descriptive information about the property.
Historic Photos
NYC Tax Photos - Photos of nearly every property in the city taken in the 1940s and again in the 1980s
Google Maps
Streetview is useful to see changes of the front of the property over the last couple of decades. Click See More Dates in the black box in the upper left of the image to view previous images.
Satellite images provide a useful comparison with the aerial view of the property from fire insurance maps to see how the property may have changed.
Building Plans
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development iCards - NYC records dating from 1902 to document the required building improvements of multiple dwelling buildings. These can be searched for from the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB).
Newspapers, Directories, Publications
Misc Historic Digital Resources
Family Search - useful for census records both to nail down specifics about the residents of your property but also to gain an understanding of the population trends of your neighborhood.
Forgotten NY - A history and architecture resource for Brooklyn and Queens in particular.
Cinema Treasures - A guide to movie theathers around the world, with photos and historical information.
The New York City Organ Project - Documents organs across the five boroughs, and offers insight into the buildings, often churches that house them.
Keep in mind:
The current name of your area may not be the only one that will yield useful results when searching for historical information. For example, if you were researching a property in Astoria, it is important to note that at one point, Astoria was its own city, before being incorporated into Long Island City, and then the New York City, as well as the fact that it is part of the borough of Queens, and Queens County, and is on Long Island. Identify Indigenous and early Dutch or English names for the area, as well as any changes in neighborhood names over time. Searching using all of these names will likely pay off.
Similarly, street names and addresses may also change over time. Identify any alternative addresses and search them too.