How to: Research When my House was Built
Property research can be a tedious process, and the City Archives & Special Collections houses several collections that are used for property research. We have compiled a Property Research Guide to assist our patrons in their research. One of the most common property research goals is to figure out when a house was built. This post will take you through the steps and materials to help you pinpoint the date of construction of your house.
The first step that we recommend when trying to figure out when your house was built, or learn more about any piece of property, is to complete a Chain of Title. The Chain of Title is obtained from the Land Records Division of the Clerk of Court’s Office; it provides an overall framework of the property ownership. It also notes changes in the legal description through improvements and will note whether or not a structure is present on the property at the time of sale. Locate the earliest mention of a structure/ improvement on the property at the time of sale. Then note the date of the previous sale, when the property is described as an empty lot. We can infer that construction of the home must have happened between these two sales. This provides you with a date range to start your research. Once you obtain a chain of title, you can use our records at the City Archives & Special Collections to refine your date of construction.
Scroll down to learn about other tools for dating houses in New Orleans. These tools are meant to help you find clues about when your house may have been built; not all tools will be helpful for every property.
This guide focuses on residential property, but many of the same tools will apply for learning about other types of buildings in New Orleans.
Fire Insurance Maps
Fire Insurance Maps, published by Sanborn Map Company, show the footprints of buildings with dimensions. These maps were published every 10-20 years, and much like the Chain of Title they can be used to infer a broad time-period in which a structure was built.
Although these maps were created with the intention of calculating insurance costs, they remain valuable for researchers looking to learn more about the history of their homes.
Click the image of the map to learn more about how to use Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for research.
Access:
Fire Insurance Maps are available through a mix of digital, physical and microfilmed records depending on the year and section of the city. Physical and microfilm records are available to registered researchers by appointment. Digital records may be viewed remotely with a New Orleans Public Library Card.
Dates:
1876-1994 (maps were not published each year and not all parts of the city are covered in each publication)
Researcher Hint: Start broad, and then narrow your search. Use a tool like the Chain of Title or Sanborn Maps to narrow your search down to a decade or two, and then use a more precise tool like those described below to hone your date. You’ll learn more about the property overall and potentially save hours searching decades of irrelevant film.
Sewerage and Water Board Connection Records
A connection to running water is a good sign that a house or other building is on the site. These records from the Sewerage and Water Board detail when buildings were connected to the public utility.
Remember, some buildings existed for years before being added to the water line, but if you find a connection record then you can assume that there was probably a house there by the time that it was connected.
Click the image on the right to learn more about Sewerage and Water Board Connection Records.
Access:
Water connection records are available on microfilm to registered researchers by appointment.
Dates:
1908-1964
Researcher Hint: Be sure to pay attention to changes in street names and numbering systems over time. Our records are associated with street names and numbers as they were when the records were created; many have changed over time.
Tax Assessment Records
Properties with buildings on them are generally worth more than empty lots, and in turn are taxed more. Look for changes in property taxes to infer construction dates.
However, there can be multiple reasons for a change in how much is owed in taxes from year to year – did the taxes increase due to construction on one lot, or did all of the taxes increase on that block as there was a change in the tax rate for that district?
Learn more about reading Tax Assessment Records by clicking on the link to the right.
Access:
Tax Assessment records are available on microfilm to registered researchers by appointment.
Dates:
1836-1975 (with incomplete coverage from 1836-1847)
City Directories
Vacant lots are usually not listed in City Directories, but houses with people or businesses may be. If an address is listed in the directory one year, but not the preceding year, you may have another clue about when your house was built.
The first directory in New Orleans offering searching by address was published in 1932. However, you may be able to search for addresses earlier than that in the online directories. Additionally, if you have narrowed your time frame to a specific period, and know from the Chain of Title who owned the property at that time, you may be able to search for their name to see if it is listed at the address.
Click the image to the right to learn about available City Directories.
Access:
City Directories are available through a mix of digital, physical and microfilmed records depending on the year. Physical and microfilm records are available to registered researchers by appointment. Digital records may be viewed remotely with a New Orleans Public Library Card.
Dates:
1811-present (there are gaps, and none were published during the Civil War (1860-1864))
Architectural Details
Review books like New Orleans Architecture Volumes 1-9 to locate houses with similar architectural details and learn when those features were used. The volumes are separated by neighborhood, and in the backs there are “Architectural Inventories” with images and descriptions of specific details.
Start with the neighborhood that most closely resembles your own, but architectural details may appear in any part of New Orleans.
Access:
These books are available to view by appointment in person at City Archives, and many have copies that can be placed on hold to borrow from libraries across New Orleans.
Coverage:
The Lower Garden District
The American Sector
The Cemeteries
The Creole Faubourgs
The Esplanade Ridge
Faubourg Treme and the Bayou Road
Jefferson City
The University Section
Carrollton
Newspapers
Check the local newspapers for descriptions of houses for sale or rent. If the property was available to rent then there was probably a house there. Conversely, if there is an advertisement for a vacant lot for sale, then there was not a house there at that time.
Access:
Newspapers are available through a mix of digital and microfilmed records depending on the newspaper and the year. Microfilm records are available to registered researchers by appointment. Digital records may be viewed remotely with a New Orleans Public Library Card.
Dates:
1837-present (comprehensively available online, additional years available on microfilm)
Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carré Digital Survey
If you live in the Vieux Carré, complete Chains of Title are available to view online through the Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carré Digital Survey. This resource was not created by City Archives, but it is a helpful tool when it comes to property research in the French Quarter.
Finally, take a look around your neighborhood. Do any of the houses look similar? Many New Orleans neighborhoods were built up as subdivisions, with similar architectural features applied to most of the homes in the area. If you are stymied searching for the build date of your house, see if you can determine probable dates for houses that may have been built around the same time.
More Resources
Check out our Property Research Guide to learn more about all of the resources we have collected to assist with property research.
Check out our earlier blog post on searching for Photos of Houses.
This post was created in 2025 by Amy DeNisco.