Researching the History of Your Building
Main LibraryThere are three areas of the Main Library which can provide information on your Fort Collins/Larimer County building: Non-Fiction, Reference, and Microfilm. These areas are open the regular library hours, and the Reference Desk can provide assistance. The following resources are available in these areas:STEP 1: Look at City Directories on microfilm to find the occupants of the building. The directories are available for most years from 1902-1976 and often include all of Larimer County. They are indexed alphabetically by name, business, and street address. Look at the section where they list the streets and find your address. It will tell you who lived there, their occupations, and names of children, and the business owners. There are a few directories that do not have listings by streets--the 1904, 1906, 1907, and 1934. A 1902, 1904, and 1906 City Directory database is on-line; you can now search the 1904 and 1906 City Directories by street through this database. STEP 2: Look for information on your occupants in the Local History Books. Five books provide major information on Fort Collins' people/buildings: Fort Collins Yesterdays, Ranch Histories of Livermore and Vicinity (Non-Fiction and Reference 978.868) and the three Larimer County history books (History of Larimer County 1911, 1985, and 1987 on Non-Fiction, Oversize, and Reference Shelves 978.8). There are separate indexes for Fort Collins Yesterdays and History of Larimer County 1911 which are filed with the books. STEP 3: Look for information on your building and its occupants in the Local History and Architecture Database. Internet access is available at the computer work stations in the Main and Harmony Libraries or from any computer connected to the Internet. STEP 4: Look for your occupants' names in Cemetery Records. Fort Collins' Grandview and Roselawn Cemeteries' Records list name, age, and date of burial on-line and in book form (978.868 Cemeteries). When you find the date of burial, you can usually find an obituary in the microfilmed newspaper dated 3-4 days before the burial date. These obituaries can provide significant historical information about the residents/owners of your building. STEP 5: Look for the style of your building in A Guide to Colorado Architecture (720.9788 REF. Shelf). The Old House Journal and Historic Preservation magazines contain excellent articles on interior and exterior architectural styles. The current issues of Old House Journal and Old House Interiors are in the Periodical Section and the back issues are filed separately from the Periodicals on the Second Floor. See Architecture for more information on Mail-order houses, architectural styles and glossaries. Additionally, there are other architectural style reference books in the 720 to 728 section of the Reference and Non-Fiction areas of the library. For guidelines on restoring your building click on the Colorado Historical Society's slide show! , and the City of Fort Collins Historic Preservation Program. STEP 6: Look at the Biographical Vertical File Index to determine if there is a biographical file on the different owners of your property in the Local History Archive. STEP 7: Look at the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps on microfilm and online that primarily depict the Old Town and early residential areas of Fort Collins during the years of 1886, 1891, 1901, 1906, 1909, 1925, and 1940. Step 8: Look at the early newspaper indexes on-line and The Coloradoan newspaper card and microfiche index from 1979-1987 in the Reference area. Microfilmed Fort Collins newspapers 1874 and 1878-present, Wellington Sun and Triangle Review are in this area. See book indexes to Wellington Sun by A. Gonzales and the Colorado Newspaper Digitization Project for early Fort Collins newspapers online. Local History ArchiveSTEP 9: Look for additional information in the Archive at the Fort Collins Museum if you cannot find it in the sources listed above. The Archive is responsible for collecting, preserving, and disseminating historical information relating to Fort Collins and Larimer County. The Archive is open Tuesday - Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am - Noon and 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm, and Sunday Noon to 5:00 pm. Researchers are welcome to use the resources of the Archive open hours, provided due care is taken to ensure the preservation of these materials. The following resources are non-circulating, and must only be used in the Archive unless stated otherwise:Historic Photograph Collections--Date from 1860s-present and include Larimer County and Fort Collins' businesses, residences, events, street scenes, and individuals. Order Forms for photographs are on-line. Oral History Transcripts--Approximately 300 verbatim transcripts of interviews available for check-out and listed on the library's computer system. Topics include historical events, experiences of early pioneers and current residents, and Larimer County community histories. Excerpts from some interviews on Local Events and World War II are on-line. Biographical and Subject Files--Provide index to files containing newspaper clippings, reports, and other documents pertaining to the history of local properties and individuals. Historical Maps-- Provide information on land ownership, boundaries, road and railroad routes, population statistics, agriculture, storm drainage, subdivision plats, etc. There are maps from 1914, 1915, 1940, 1956, 1959, 1968, and 1975 that detail property ownership of Larimer County farm land, and Fort Collins residential property ownership maps from 1894 and 1929. Obituary File--File contains copy of every obituary in The Coloradoan from 1977-present. Obituaries dated before 1977 must be searched for in the microfilmed newspapers in the Main Library Reference Area. Some obituary information has been included in the biographical summaries of the People Database. Also the Coloradoan newspaper database has obituaries without the photographs dating from 1999-present. Tax Assessor Records--Include partial collection of Larimer County tax records dating from the 1940s to the 1970s with information and photographs of the property. Patrons need legal location (township, range, and quarter section) to access these records. Many photographs from the 1948 and 1968 records are available in the Local History and Architecture Database. Click on the Photo Search Option and then Advanced Search for Photos. Enter your street name in Keyword and click on Tax Assessor Records in All Collections. Additionally there is an online exhibit of rural tax assessor records at Larimer County Farms and Ranches. Historic Building Surveys and Contexts--Provide historical and architectural data on various residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural buildings in Fort Collins. Often include title chains of the buildings, as well as biographical information on the owners. Some copies are available in Non-Fiction for check-out (978.868). Building Permit Records--Provide construction dates from January 1920-December 1949. Entries are by date only, so may need to look through all entries for information. A database for these years is available. Building Records--Copies of building records that appeared in the newspapers at the end of each year. They give the location of new construction and often the name of the owner or the builder. These newspaper articles span the time period from 1878 to 1956. They are not available for every year and an incomplete database is on-line. Vertical File on Architects and Builders--Contains a small collection of miscellaneous information on some local builders/architects. It is often difficult to find the builder/architect and usually the Building Permits or Building Records are the best source for that information. Check the Historical Guide to Colorado Architects. Newspaper Index--Card Index in Archive provides subject and biographical index for Fort Collins papers dating from 1874-1909 and 1975-1979. Other Local History SourcesThe offices of Tax Assessor and County Clerk and Recorder in the Larimer County Administration Building (200 W. Oak, Fort Collins, 80521, 970-498-7000) provide information on tax assessments (the Assessor's office) and deeds, mortgages, and sales (the Clerk's office) that pertain to a property from the 1860s-present. These will reveal who owned the property and for how long, how much the property cost, and can give valuable information about the homeowner of the deeds that have been filed on the property. Deeds are indexed by the names of the seller (grantor) and the buyer (grantee), so start with the most recent owner and transaction and work back through the years. When trying to determine the year a building was erected, there are a number of clues to look for. For example, a sizable increase in price from one transaction to the next suggests that there was some capital improvement on the land. Also, a large increase in the property taxes assessed suggests that some major improvement took place. Additionally, wills, probate records, and court litigation that may involve the property are filed with the District Court which is on the second floor of the Courthouse, 201 Laporte.If money is no object, but time is, it is possible to have a title company do this research for you by providing you with the abstract for the property. This is basically the legal history of the property including the warranty deeds and deeds of trust that are available at the county clerk's office. Check the yellow pages under "Title Companies". DonationsThe Local History Archive welcomes donations of material and photographs that are essential to the development of the collection. Additionally, copies of material and photos in personal collections can be made by the Local History Archivist and returned to the owner. Please contact the Local History Archive (970-221-6688) if you have information, photos, city directories, yearbooks, etc. which you would like to donate or allow us to copy. |
