DearMYRTLE - Researching Old Houses

Providing practical, down-to-earth advice for family historians since 1995, online since 1985.

	Site of the Day: Researching Old Houses www.hrl.lib.state.va.us

DearREADERS,
When redoing some work on my Hans Jost Heydt (Hite) I stumbled across this helpful web site from The Archives Room, created by The Handley Regional Library, Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, P.O. Box 58, Winchester, VA 22604, (540) 662-9041 ext. 23 handley@visuallink.com. From the site I discovered: "The Handley Regional Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society jointly operate Handley Regional Library Archives Department. The collections include manuscripts, maps, photographs, ephemera and books related to the history of the Lower Shenandoah Valley."

The page I would like to recognize as site of the day is the one explaining briefly the resources available in this county when attempting to document the ownership of a house. www.hrl.lib.state.va.us

Items to consider include:

Deeds
Wills
Tax Records
Manuscripts
Historic American Buildings Survey
Mutual Assurance Society
Julian Baker Papers
W. W. Glass Papers
Scrapbooks Collection
Maps
Street Directories
Photograph Collections
Newspapers

In addition to Virginia-specific details of these references, you'll find an apparently useful bibliography. This page made it easier for me to discover more about Belle Mead, the home of the son on my ancestor Hans Jost Heydt, and sister to Elizabeth (Hite) Froman.

Would that other local genealogy and historical societies would make such research guidance available so that those of us not living in the area can become acquainted with what's available.

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)