The office previously known as "Cook County Recorder of Deeds" was absorbed by the Cook County Clerk's Office on 7 December 2020. It is now called "Cook County Clerk's Recordings Division."
If you have an ancestor's address, you might be curious to learn who owned the property and when it was purchased and sold.
Tract books document property ownership from 1871-1985. To locate the correct page, follow the steps below.
1) Check to see if the street name and/or number has changed. Visit the Resources page on ChicagoAncestors.org to find street renaming and renumbering guides. If you can't determine the modern address, check with the Map Room to ask for help. There may be a fee for that service.
2) When you're satisfied you have the correct modern address, visit the Cook County Assessor's Property Search page to locate the corresponding Property Identification Number (PIN). You will need the PIN or the legal description when you visit the Recorder of Deeds Office.
3) Visit the Tract Department.
The process of locating the correct tract book page is rather complex. If you're making a one-time visit, it will be simpler and more efficient to give a clerk the PIN and ask for help to find the right page. If you plan to visit regularly, it's worth figuring out how to locate the page on your own. These two resources do a good job of explaining the process:
Researching Your Oak Park Home:
A Citizen’s Guide
Your House Has a History: A Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Your House.
4) Once you have located the correct page, you can have a copy made for a small fee.
5) The tract book page will document the chain of ownership, showing names, dates, and document numbers that refer to various types of property records and even court records. If you want to view any of the property records, ask a clerk how to book and page the entries, and then take the information across the hall to request the microfiche records for viewing. If court records are mentioned, follow up with the Circuit Court Archives.
It's expensive to have property records copied. In most cases, it's best to view the records and take notes.
Occasionally you'll be given microfiche records that are wet, deteriorating, and emitting a strong vinegar-type odor. If you have sensitivities, avoid working with those records.
If the building you're researching has survived, there may be a modern-day photo of it in the Cook County Assessor's Property Search database.
The Chicago History Museum has a large collection of photographs. More information about their collection can be found here.
Sometimes searching online newspapers for addresses can be a productive way to learn more about a building's history and/or events that took place there. Articles may associate events such as crimes or accidents with specific addresses and classified advertisements can suggest when properties were sold or rented.
Fire insurance maps may give you an idea of the type of structure that was located at a specific address. For availability, check the Newberry Library's Fire Insurance Maps page.
Building permits can help you learn more about the homes where your ancestors lived. For more information, including online records, check out the Chicago Building Permits Digital Collection 1872-1954 on the University of Illinois at Chicago's website.
Find addresses and convert them to the modern equivalents, if necessary. Check the Assessor's website to find the PIN. Take the PIN, and legal description, if you have it, to the Tract Department. Ask for help to locate the tract book page and have it copied. If there are any documents of interest listed, arrange to view them (they're on microfiche) and take notes; copying them is very expensive. If you can't do the research yourself, hire someone. The Recordings Division does not take research requests.
For on-site document retrieval in Chicago, I recommend contacting Steven Wright (Your Chicago Ancestors) or Kim Stankiewicz (Chicago Ancestry). Both are experienced researchers who make frequent trips to Chicago-area archives to do client work.
If you can't visit in person, you'll need to hire a local researcher. They don't offer searches by mail.
I recommend contacting Steven Wright (Your Chicago Ancestors) or Kim Stankiewicz (Chicago Ancestry). Both are experienced researchers who make frequent trips to Chicago-area archives to do client work.
Look for records that asked for that inforation—census records, 1880-1940, city directories, birth and death records, draft registration cards, and newspapers, for example.
Some. Check Index to the American Contractor's Chicago Building Permit Column, 1898-1912 for more information.
Visit the Cook County Clerk's "Recordings" page to use the "Search Recordings" database. If you find records of interest, follow the instructions to purchase and download copies.
Check with the Cook County Clerk's Recordings Department for advice.
Check out the information on the Cook County Clerk's Recordings page.
Banner image created from photo pasted into Louise Grant (Smith) Richardson, “Memories” (MS, [Unknown], December, 1933), p. 9; privately held by the website author. The house was located at 1824 Prairie Avenue but is no longer standing.
© 2017 ChicagoGenealogy. All rights reserved. Theme by elemis.