Land Records Shed Light on the Past
All levels of government deal with land records documenting ownership transfers, taxation, alterations and other actions. In addition to documenting important rights, these records are valuable to family researchers. For example, old assessment and taxation records often offer information about real and personal property, right down to the number of cattle and pigs on the property and the value of farm equipment. This information can give researchers a richer understanding of the lives of their ancestors.
The State Archives holds land records from county, provisional, territorial, state and federal governments. These cover a wide range of dates and functions. Examples include:
- Assessment and tax rolls in the county records
- Maps and program records regarding land use, land management and environmental issues in the state records
- Land claims, land use surveys and land legislation in the Provisional and Territorial government records
- Donation Land Claim files in the federal records
The records listings include links to resources such as: