Researching the History of Your Home

A Research Guide from the Oklahoma Historical Society

Researching in Oklahoma County

Want to know more about your house? Here are some guidelines for researching your home in Oklahoma County. Some of the resources will be helpful for you, even if your home is not in central Oklahoma. It will depend on what records are available for your county.

Use the Oklahoma County Assessor’s website to track the ownership of your home. You can search by name or address. When you have located the entry for your home, be sure to note the subdivision name and the legal description, including the block and lot number. This site will also provide you with the names of the previous owners, but it may be incomplete. Use the subdivision name and legal description to search for information on your house at the County Clerk’s website.

Helpful Tips

After you have identified the names of some of the persons who lived in your home, you may wish to search the OHS Research Center catalogs for materials about those persons or photographs of them. Remember to search for the name of the subdivision as well. Remember to work back and forth between the names and addresses you collect and the city directories and newspapers for information about the persons who owned your home.

City Directories

Look up the address or former owners in city directories. City directories have more information than a telephone directory; in addition to the name of the person, you will find their spouse, address, their profession or work position, and in some cases, in the back portion of the directory will be the neighbors and whether they owned the home. To find out what city directories are in the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center's holdings, search our city directory database.

Maps

Sanborn maps are large-scale maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company of Pelham, New York. Designed to aid fire insurance company’s assessment of properties, these maps are useful for tracking changes in cities and towns. The Research Center has over 3,000 Sanborn maps for various towns in Oklahoma. Many public libraries, including the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System, have a subscription to Oklahoma Sanborn maps that can be accessed with your library card.

Another good resource is the interactive map of downtown Oklahoma City. Included are street and aerial views from the late 1920s to the 1960s.

Newspapers

The newspaper is a great place to find information on the neighborhood in which your house is located. For example, when Crestwood opened in the 1920s, there were multiple ads for many of the homes including line drawings and descriptions. Searching the newspaper for the name of your subdivision may yield information as well.

The Gateway to Oklahoma History offers free access to early Oklahoma newspapers online. Remember to search by address as well as by name. In some periods, the names of numbered streets will need to be spelled out (e.g., twelfth) as will the directions (e.g., northwest rather than NW). You may find marriage licenses, divorces, birth announcements, social events, crimes, and a variety of events that occurred at your address.

State Historic Preservation Office

The Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) offers resources that may assist in your search. Explore the National Register of Historic Places, the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory, and more. Start exploring SHPO resources.

Libraries

Be sure to check with your local library. They may have a local history section with materials specific to your area. These can include city directories, newspapers, and clippings files. Look in the catalog for materials on your neighborhood as well as the city or area.

Published Resources

  • A Crown Heights History. s.n., (1996)
  • An Early History of Capitol Hill: Compiled from the Files of the Capitol Hill Beacon and Other Sources to Mark the 60th Anniversary of This Community Newspaper, Founded September 15, 1905, Capitol Hill Beacon (1965)
  • Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood, Betsy J. Green Santa Monica Press (May 2002)
  • Great Buildings Ahead: A Guided Tour of Central Oklahoma’s Architectural Landmarks: For Walking & Motoring, Harold Hite, ed. American Institute of Architects, Central Oklahoma Chapter/ Metropolitan Library System, (1989)
  • Heritage Hills: Preservation of a Historic Neighborhood, Bob Blackburn Western Heritage Books (1990)
  • Historic Photos of Oklahoma City, Larry Johnson Turner Publishing (2007)
  • Jackson Area Neighborhood Profile–1998 Heartland Coalition (1998)
  • Neighborhood profiles for Central Park, Edgemere, Jefferson Park, Paseo, 1996 Heartland Coalition (1998)
  • Nichols Hills: A Residential Community, Konrad Keesee and Ann Taylor. s.n. (2007)
  • The Nichols Hills Tradition, Robert Orbach, ed. American Fidelity Group, 199?
  • North East 1-B Area Plan 1982–1992 Oklahoma City Planning Division (1982)
  • OKC: Second Time Around: A Renaissance Story, Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money Full Circle Press (2006)
  • Oklahoma City, 1890 to 1930, Platted, Parked & Populated, Jan Jennings and Herbert Gottfried Planning Division, Oklahoma City Community Development Department (1982)
  • Oklahoma Homes: Past and Present, C. R. Goins and J. W. Morris University of Oklahoma Press, (1980)

Contact Us

Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center
Oklahoma History Center
800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

405-522-5225
okhistory.org