By Tori Shaw
MSNHA graduate assistant
Whether you are simply interested in finding the date it was built or you hope to uncover the full history of your home, there are a variety of resources at your disposal.
For a good place to start on your own (especially if you’re social distancing), try this online guide from HomeAdvisor. It can connect you with external resources to assist with home research, including but not limited to a slideshow of various architectural home styles, a house history checklist, advice on how to find past home owners, census records and other archival and government documents relating to your home.
When you’re ready to dig deeper–either online or in person–many public libraries as well as county and state archives have information on local structures and architecture, too. To research Alabama homes in particular, ask the library or archive staff to help you find these two books by Alabama architectural historian Robert S. Gamble: “The Alabama Catalog: Historic American Buildings Survey: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State” (1986) and “Historic Architecture in Alabama: A Guide to Styles and Types, 1810-1930” (2001).
Here are links to archives and public libraries within MSNHA’s six counties (click on each name for details):
- Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
The Local History Room at the Florence Lauderdale Public Library is a valuable resource for researching the history of your home with helpful staff to assist you. - Killen Public Library
- Lexington Public Library
- Rogersville Public Library
- Weatherford Library, Red Bay
- Russellville Public Library
- Courtland Public Library
- Lawrence County Public Library
- Athens-Limestone Public Library
- Decatur Public Library
- Eva Public Library
- Falkville Public Library
- William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle
- Linda Duran Public Library, Priceville
- Somerville Public Library
- Cherokee Public Library
- Leighton Public Library
- Muscle Shoals Public Library
- Sheffield Public Library
- Tuscumbia- Helen Keller Public Library
- Alabama Department of Revenue County Offices/Appraisal and Assessment Records
- Alabama Department of Archives and History Digital Collections
- Alabama Secretary of State Land Records Search
- Morgan County Archives
- Alabama GenWeb
- Lawrence County Archives
- Limestone County Archives
- Colbert County GenWeb
- Lauderdale County GenWeb
- Franklin County GenWeb
- Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archives
Documents, archives, official records, data bases and more are literally at the fingertips of those interested in researching their houses. The MSNHA is full of resources to help & knowledgeable experts to guide you. ###
