Your Property

This site was developed to assist users with research associated with a property, whether it be a structure or undeveloped land.

While there are many paths to research property, the following offers a simple process of going from “easy to time-consuming.”

Easy (online):  Start your research by checking these sources and listings:

Local and National Historic Site Profiles

Virginia Department of Historic Resources Historic Properties Database

National Register of Historic Places Program Online Research Database

Arlington Historic Resources Inventory

Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey

Historical House Cards collection

Real Estate Assessments

Arlington County Courthouse in the Land Records Office

Maps

County’s Mapping Center

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Arlington County, Arlington County, Virginia. 1936

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Arlington County, Arlington County, Virginia. 1959 Vol 1

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Arlington County, Arlington County, Virginia. 1959 Vol 2

Time-Consuming (Visit or Internet Search Required):

Research neighborhood and city directories, wills, obituaries, Census records, phone books, tax records and newspapers to gather more information about the people associated with your property, as well as news associated with your property. Tax records, especially those from before 1927, list livestock, watches, clocks, pianos, carriages and more. You may also find information in Fairfax or Alexandria archives.

Arlington Public Library Resources

• Architectural styles and details can be clues to a structure’s age. Two books available for loan that can help analyze houses are:
  • McAlester, Virginia, and McAlester, Lee, A Field Guide to American Houses (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: New York, NY:  1984)
  • Stevenson, Katherine Cole, and Jandl, H. Ward, Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from (Sears Roebuck and Company (The Preservation Press: Washington, D.C.:  1986)

• Old maps can provide useful historical context. The Charlie Clark Center for Local History has maps available for use on-site.  Check specifically:
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Company maps. These large-scale maps show structures by material type, and exist for various parts of the county dating from 1909 to 1959.   Check the online catalog at this link https://library.arlingtonva.us/ and enter the search term “Sanborn.”
  • Property Atlas of Arlington County, Virginia (The Franklin Survey Company: Philadelphia, PA: 1935).  This volume has large-scale detailed maps covering the entire county.  A second volume was published in 1938 “…showing in detail lot and property lines and dimensions, lot and block numbers, house numbers, buildings, subdivisions with names and boundaries, etc.”
  • Real Estate Atlases produced by the Arlington County Department of Real Estate Assessment (various editions).
• Also available for on-site use at the Charlie Clark Center for Local History is Hill’s Arlington County (Virginia) Directory (Hill Directory Co.: Richmond, VA: various years) “Containing an Alphabetical Directory of Business Concerns and Private Citizens, a Directory of Householders, Occupants of Office Buildings and Other Business Places, Including a Complete Street and Avenue Guide….,” which was published intermittently between 1955 and 1976.
• Library card holders with (free) online accounts can access a number of searchable databases of historical newspapers that can be useful for property research, including The Alexandria Gazette, The Washington Evening Star, and The Washington Post. For details, visit https://library.arlingtonva.us/collection/ and click on “Magazines and Newspapers.”

U.S. Census records can provide the names of persons who owned or resided at specific addresses. Publicly available Census records can be viewed at Ancestry.com, whose library edition can be accessed on-site (on library computers only) or through a personal subscription.

Arlington County Government Resources

• Tax Assessment Records Some detailed information, including the year of construction, can be found in tax assessment records. Visit the Arlington County Department of Real Estate Assessment website at https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Topics/Real-Estate, click on “Property Search,” and enter an address.
• Research the land records associated with your property and develop a chain of title using the deed and mortgage records available at the Arlington County Courthouse in the Land Records Office, Suite 6200, 1425 N. Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA 22201.  Use the legal property description and begin working backwards from your deed. Many records are computerized or on microfilm, while others can be found in the deed books.  An overview of the types of records and how to access them can be found at https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Courts/Circuit-Court/Land-Records.
• If you know the name(s) of previous owners of a property you are researching, you can explore land records online at https://arlington.va.publicsearch.us/. (A free account is required to view index data; to view and download documents requires payment.)
• Some county properties have been designated as “Essential Properties” on Arlington County’s Historic Resources Inventory. A list of the properties, and information about the Inventory, can be found here:  https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Plans-Studies/Historic-Preservation/Essential-Properties

This page was last updated on: