HIST 386/586: Historic Architectural Survey: Researching the History of Eau Claire Houses

Introduction

Here are some Web sites to get you started:

• Wisconsin Historical Society, Guide to Researching Old Buildings
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Preservation Directory
  

Step 1: Take a look at the house

Try to identify the architectural style of the house by consulting such helpful handbooks as:

• A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia & Lee McAlester (Knopf, 1984)
• Identifying American Architecture by John J.-G. Blumenson (American Association for State and Local History, 1977)
• Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin, Volume 2 (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986)

Knowing the style is helpful in establishing the general date of construction and in fleshing out the house’s history. Ingolf Vogeler’s Geography 367 class Web site contains a lot of information about Eau Claire architectural and building styles.

Also, check to see if your house has already been researched.  Search for it in the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Architecture and History Inventory Database and in the Chippewa Valley Museum’s “Intensive Survey” of historic homes (1984).  Remember, however, that the information in these sources may not be entirely accurate.

Step 2: Determine the Legal Description of the Property

The legal property description is essential for finding further information about the house.  You can find it at the City of Eau Claire Assessor’s Office Web site, or in Bussell's Atlas of the City of Eau Claire, 1888 (Map # 89), available in the UWEC Archives & Special Collections

Step 3: Find the house on Sanborn and Birds Eye Maps

By locating the house on various 19th and 20th century maps, you can determine whether the street name or address of the house has ever been changed.

Sanborn Maps

At the UWEC Special Collections & Archives :

• Paper: 1897 (very fragile), 1931 rev. 1953, 1957 & 1960
• Microfilm: G4121.G475 .S26
  1883, 1885, 1889, 1894, 1897 with 1916 revisions, 1931, 1931 with 1945 revisions, 1931 with 1958 revisions.

At the Chippewa Valley Museum Library:

• Paper: 1897, 1931 rev. 1958

The L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library provides online access to select Sanborn Maps. Library card required for access.

Birds Eye Maps

Both UWEC Special Collections & Archives and the Chippewa Valley Museum Library have Eau Claire birds eye maps from 1880 and 1891.

Step 4: Consult the City Directories

Who lived in the house?  Did they own or rent?  What was their occupation?  The city directories will answer these questions.

At the UWEC Special Collections & Archives :

Local History: F589.E2 E2
Eau Claire City Directories, 1880 - present except 1891-2, 1897-1901, 1903-1904, 1908, 1996

At the Chippewa Valley Museum Library:

Eau Claire City Directories, 1880-present except 1883 and 1983

The L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library provides online access to select city directorie published between 1880 and 1923.. Note that they are very difficult to search!

Step 5: Visit the Register of Deeds, Eau Claire County Courthouse, 721 Oxford Avenue

1. At the front desk, just tell them you’re doing your Historic Survey project for the University.
2. Look up the legal location—the plat your property is from—in the Index to the Tract Index (small black binder).  It tells what volume of the Tract Index it’s in.  (e.g. - mine was Vol. 4A)
3. Look up the legal plat in the Tract Index (large white books).  Each plat will have several pages, and each lot will be listed separately.  (e.g.- mine was “Chapman’s & Thorp’s 2nd Add.”, and it included three lots.  Each lot was listed separately, but all the documents listed were the same for each.)
4. Look up the legal documents listed by Volume and Page Number:
   
   
   • The Tract Index only lists documents up to 2001—after that they are only listed in the register of deed’s database.
   • Some Abbreviations used:

• Before Volume 250, the documents are separated by type:  Deeds, mortgages, misc.
• After Volume 250, the documents are together as simply “records.”
• Don’t bother looking up documents until the property has a “plat” or “CSM” listed.

5. For Plats:

• Volumes 1-10 have indices on inside doors of the cabinet - gives the hanger number of each plat.
• Volume 11 has an index on the top of the cabinet (green binder)

General Comments

No cameras are allowed, and no personal photocopying is allowed (Federal law)

Copy of a legal document:  $2 for first page, $1 each additional page, and must be done by staff.

Try to go at a time when they’re not busy.  They are generally not busy on Fridays, and their busiest times are at the first, last, and 15th of each month.

Be prepared to spend some time and do some digging—my property had 94 documents listed.

Be courteous to staff—they are willing to help and answer questions, especially if they’re not busy.

Only have one volume out at a time (along with the Tract Index).

Step 6: More House History Sources: Additional Research

Many different types of records contain information pertinent to the history of houses. You might try some of the following:

At the UWEC Special Collections & Archives:

Information about individual houses:

• Eau Claire Series 15
  Eau Claire City Tax Rolls: Relevant dates 1945-1980, 1985, 1990
• Eau Claire Series 95
  Eau Claire City Assessment Rolls: 1933-1939, 1962-1972

Information about neighborhood development:

• UHC169
  Pictorial View of the Modern City (Eau Claire, Wis.), 1957
• Eau Claire Series 2
  Proceedings of the City Council: Relevant dates: 1945 -1959
• Eau Claire Series 20
  Eau Claire (Wis.) Mayor Correspondence, 1940-1949
• Eau Claire Series 98
  Eau Claire (Wis.) City Manager Subject FIles, 1950-1988
  

At the Chippewa Valley Museum Library:

Search the photograph collection for images of the house and property

At City Hall, the City of Eau Claire Community Development Office:

Look for old building permits or city assessor's cards.

Additional Web sites:

Topozone
Historical  Census Browser
Randall Park Neighborhood

Further Reading

America’s Architectural Roots: Ethnic Groups that Built America (The Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1986)

Ellsworth, Linda.  The History of a House: How to Trace It (American Association for State and Local History Technical Leaflet 89, 1976)

Howe, Barbara J., et. al. Houses and Homes: Exploring Their History (American Association for State and Local History, 1987)

Light, Sally.  House Histories: A Guide to Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home (Golden Hill Press, 1989)

Researching a Historic Property (National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Register Bulletin 39, 1991)

Researching Old Buildings (Division of Historic Preservation, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, undated)

Webber, Joan. How Old is Your House? A Guide to Research (Pequot Press, 1978)

House History Sources