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Home Research and the Pikes Peak Library District

Have you ever wondered who lived in your house or what they did for a living? There are many reasons to research a home’s history. You may want to apply for recognition of your historic home (listing on National Register of Historic Places), looking to buy or sell a home, or you’re just curious!

Online Home Research Resources

We suggest you start with the county assessor’s records as an important source of information: El Paso County Assessor– https://assessor.elpasoco.com/ Input your address, and the County Assessor will list the size of the structure and property, home value, last selling price, additions, and the year the house was built (keep in mind it may not all be that accurate!).

Another important source of information can be found in Pikes Peak Library District’s collection of City directories (1879-1929) –https://ppld.recollectcms.com/nodes/view/793034 City directories can provide valuable genealogical and historical information about people by name and address, and occupation. The street listings started in 1901–the earliest you could search for your address. This can help determine when a home was built, who lived there, and when.

Pikes Peak NewsFinder –https://ppld.recollectcms.com/nodes/view/767

• Newspapers – search local news for addresses, street names, or the names of people who lived at a specific location.
• Homicide Index – search by address or street name to see if a homicide was committed there

Pikes Peak Regional Building Department – http://www.pprbd.org Click on Permit Search to search for building permits by address. If the structure was moved, the permit will tell you where it was before. Regional Building also has blueprints on microfilm from about 1977.

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps – Access via CU Boulder: https://libguides.colorado.edu/c.php?g=961860&p=6946437 and click on Downloading. Then click on Colorado Springs. The most useful map for most of Middle Shooks Run is 1907.

Kit houses – http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm Between 1908 and 1940 Sears Roebuck sold building supplies, house plans and kit houses by mail-order (over 100,000 homes were sold this way). Check your cellar/attic for numbers or words stamped on joists and rafters and use the Sears archive to see if your house might match one of their models.

Home Research Resources at Regional History & Genealogy at Penrose Library

Building permits: Special Collections has building permits from 1900-1964, moving and wrecking permits from 1911-1974, and some tapping permits for the 1870-1880s. Some indexing exists for the early 1900s permits. If it was built earlier, there may be a notice in the paper.

Tapping records (1902-1940; not comprehensive): We have tapping record books, indexed by street, that record when water taps were installed by address. These contain the date the tap was installed, the size and location of the tap, and often include the homeowner’s name.

City directories (1872-current): While city directories from 1872-1929 are available online, physical copies from 1872 to present are available in Special Collections.

The Shooks Run Inventory of Historic Sites by Jill Cumming – 1978 (917.8856 S559). A valuable resource of buildings in the Shooks Run neighborhood.

Aerial photographs (1930-1990s): Aerial photographs of El Paso County allow you to visually look at land and homes at different points in time.

Blueprints: Special Collections has a limited collection of prominent local homes and buildings.

Published inventories and resources. These are useful for understanding architectural styles and terminology.

• North End Historic District Design Guidelines (720.288 N864 1995)
• Historic Sites & Structures, El Paso County (917.8856 F853H)
• Old Colorado City Historic Inventory (978.856 C7191O)
• The Westside: An Introduction to Its History & Architecture (978.856 A141W)
• Design Guidelines for the North Weber/Wahsatch Historic District (720.288 D457)
• Sadie’s House (917.8856 R152S 1986)

Subsidence maps: Dozens and dozens of coal mines were in operation in El Paso County from 1883-1965 and a great number of these mines lie beneath Colorado Springs primarily north of the Shooks Run neighborhood. Subsidence maps will show where the underground workings are in relation to the streets in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

Once you have created a list of former owners/occupants of the home you’re researching, you may submit a research request to the Starsmore Center for Local History housed in the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. They will compare those names to the various indices for their collections to check if they have any materials that may be of use to you. Request an appointment online at https://www.cspm.org/collections/archives-collection/