Who lived here before you.
The history of your house, written from public records, in 2 days. $79.
Three steps.
Send the address
And anything you already know: a date on the deed, a name, a story the seller told you.
We search the records
Deed and land-registry indexes, census returns, city directories, fire-insurance maps, old newspapers, planning files.
Read the story
A 6–12 page PDF: the timeline of owners and residents, what each record says, and what was not found.
What you send, what you get.
418 Maple Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218. Brick, two storeys, front porch. The deed says "erected about 1911". We bought it in 2024 from a family who had it for 40 years. We'd love to know who built it and who lived here before them.
418 Maple Street
1911 – 1912
Built for Josef and Anna Kovach, who bought the empty lot from the Maple Land Company in March 1911; the first deed with a house on it is dated May 1912.
1920
The census lists Josef (42, a steel-mill roller, born in Hungary), Anna (39) and five children aged 3 to 16. The house is owned, with a mortgage.
1927
The fire-insurance map shows the brick house with a wooden rear porch and a small garage on the alley.
1946 – 1984
Sold to Walter and Irene Doyle; a 1952 newspaper notice records their daughter's wedding "at the family home". Three further owners to 2024, listed in the owners table.
Not found: the original building permit (the city's permits before 1920 are not online) and any photograph before 1960.
An invented sample. Every real report cites the record behind each line.
One house, one report, within 2 days of payment.
- Owners timeline from the deed or land-registry index, as far back as the index goes
- Who lived there in each census year, with ages and occupations as recorded
- Old maps and directories: what stood there and what the street was called
- Newspaper mentions, where the archives reach
- Every record cited; a plain “not found” list; one free round of questions after you read it
Order the report.
Three questions.
What is in the report?
A written story of the house, 6 to 12 pages as a PDF: when it was built and for whom, an owners timeline from the deed and land-registry indexes, who lived there in each census year, what the old maps and city directories show, any newspaper mentions, and a list of every record we read with a link or reference. A section called Not found lists what we looked for and could not find.
What if the records are missing?
Some are. We only use public records we can read online or in free archives, and we say plainly what was not found and where it might still be (a county office, a local archive). If we can find nothing at all about the house, we tell you before you pay and there is no charge.
Which countries, and how old does the house need to be?
United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. The report is richest for a house built before about 1950, because census returns, directories and fire-insurance maps cover those years. A newer house gets a shorter report on the land and the street, and we say so first.
Read the sample first
The whole invented 418 Maple Street report as a PDF, plus the checklist of what to look for on your own deed.