Researching Your Home
Start
at the Washington State Archives, Puget
Sound Region, where they house a photograph and property
record of most residences in King
County that
existed in 1937
and almost all of those built between 1938 and 1972. Many
have a second picture taken in 1960. They are organized by
Tax ID Number (parcel number), and sometimes by brief legal
description. The parcel number can be found
on your tax assessment or can be obtained on-line here.
You may also retrieve a parcel number by calling the Assessor's
Office, (206) 296-7300, with the building's
address.
You can
order the King County Assessors Property Record card and photograph
from:
Washington
State Archives
Puget Sound Regional Branch
3000 Landerholm Circle S.E.
Bellevue, WA 98007-6484
Phone (425) 564-3940.
If you
call them, they will ask for your parcel number and, if
you desire, set up an appointment (at least one day in advance)
for you to come in and look at the records of your property.
You can also order photographs and the property card
on the phone.
Recent prices
(2008): 5X7 photo from negative $17, 8X10 photo $22, 16X20
photo $55, Copy of Property Card $3.00 (includes
handling). Note: if no negative on file,
but print is available,
add $6 negative processing fee. You may also order a CD with digital photos--the
cost for that is $15 labor fee, plus $5 for the CD. You can
add up to about five digital photos for the $15 labor
fee.
For further
information see their web site at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/archives/ then
click on "Puget Sound Region" in the "Archives Repositories"
section..
Some other suggestions
to find out more about your house and property:
1. Obtain building
permits for the property from the Department
of Planning and Development, 20th Floor, Key Tower,
700 5th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101. Building permits are organized
by
street address.
Mention to the clerk you are trying to locate the original
building permit. They will present you with a microfiche
to review. If the microfiche does not show your original building
permit, ask them about ledgers/registers on microfilm in the
back. 
2. Check
Sanborn fire insurance maps, which are available at the University
of Washington Library Special Collections, Suzzallo
Building, at the Seattle Public Library Central Branch,
or online with
your Seattle Library card. Sanborn maps show significant detail
about a building's outline and location on the property, as
well as construction material, heating systems and number of
floors.
(Ballard
House plan shown at right).
3. Get
a list of owners by searching the archived Tax books
at the Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch
(above.) The books (for every five years) show who owned a
given piece of property as well as who paid the assessment
that year. You will need the legal description. Find
out the current owner on-line as part of the parcel search
at the King County web site.
4. Find
out prior home occupants from Seattle Polk Directories,
located at the central Seattle Public Library (above) and UW
Library Special Collections, Allen Library. Look up
owners you know in the main sections.
Seattle Polk Directories were published nearly every year from
the 1880s to 1996. They include alphabetical listings of Seattle
residents and businesses; a classified business section organized
under types of businesses; and starting in 1938, a reverse
directory, which listed every resident and business by his
or her street address. The 1920 census (available through
your Seattle library card on-line) should show streets with
addresses in
the margin of the records.
5. Try
reaching heirs of your building's former occupants and long
time residents of nearby homes.
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