Researching Your House

For those of you interested in researching and restoring your historic home, it can be a daunting task. Luckily there are many great resources available in the Northampton area (and beyond). Here are a few places to get you started. Make sure to ask at each location about their image reproduction policy.

1. Historic Northampton
A great place to start searching for visual references, but is hit-or-miss since the photograph collection has been donated by individuals over the years. Members can search the online database from home which includes a partial listing of photographs, (including the Main Street Collection, Howes Brothers Collection), old maps, city directories (a descriptive phone book) and a Historic House Inventory of the 1970's.

Research fees: Non-members: $10 for the first hour, $5 each additional hour. $40 membership give you access to online database and research fees are waived. Appointment required. Tuesday-Saturday 10-4. http://www.historic-northampton.org/

2. Forbes Library
The local public library provides free access to the Hampshire Room for Local History and Special Collections. They also have local maps, city directories, and a large collection of photographs arranged by location. This is the best location to start researching any genealogical requests.

Free. Hours are limited. Friday and Saturday 1-5. Appointment strongly suggested. http://www.forbeslibrary.org/special/special.shtml

3. Hampshire County Registry of Deeds
All official documents related to land ownership are archived at the Registry of Deeds, including sales, surveys, land court and proprietors records, and plans. Massachusetts has scanned and indexed each document and made it available online. You can also make an appointment to talk to the registrar who will help guide you through the process. http://www.masslandrecords.com/malr/index.htm

4. Massachusetts Historical Commission
The MHC is the government agency that administers the National Register of Historical Places program in MA (I'm sure you've seen those signs you see on people's homes). They offer a wealth of information on their website including the searchable Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System database where you can find information about a specific property. Northampton has a local Historical Commission that can be reached through the town hall.

Looking for preservation funding? The MHC also has a Preservation Project Fund that is a state-funded matching grant program to provide funding for properties on the National Register.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/MHC/

5. Community Preservation Committee
Northampton recently voted to to administering funding from the Community Preservation Act. One of the four categories the CPC will provide funding for is Historic Preservation. http://www.northamptonma.gov/gsuniverse/httpRoot/comm/

Please feel free to contact Historic Northampton with any questions, or post your additional resources, comments, and history hunting stories here.