.{"id":4310,"date":"2021-10-05T14:39:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T14:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historictakoma.org\/?page_id=4310"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:57:10","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/historictakoma.org\/?page_id=4310","title":{"rendered":"Research – resources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Research Resources<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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Learning More about Takoma Park<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Historic Takoma’s Reading Room<\/a> <\/strong>and Research Archives<\/strong><\/a>, a variety of tools and resources available for those those interested in learning more about Takoma Park and the surrounding area. <\/strong>Historic Takoma volunteers are available to help with getting you started on research and navigating the various sources and tools. If you have a question send a note to question@historictakoma.org<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A number of online tools and sources are available to assist you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Property history \u2013 <\/strong>Tracing the history of a house (or other property) provides information not only about the age of the house, but also about the families that lived there, and the evolution of subdivisions, streets, and other development. These guides<\/a><\/span><\/strong> will get you started. Once you\u2019ve done some research consider adding it to the T<\/a>akoma Houses<\/a><\/strong> <\/a>project to share your insights with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newspaper searches<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Newspapers are a great source of information about people, events, businesses, and the like. Newspaper searches for names and addresses complement property history searches, providing further insights about people and buildings. The Library of Congress\u00a0Chronicling America<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0collection is easily searchable. Newspapers archives are also available through the\u00a0DC Public Library<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0as well as Historic Takoma\u2019s own\u00a0Newspaper Collection<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Census records \u2013 <\/strong>The decennial federal census collects information not just about name and address, but occupation, income, marital status, national origin, and home ownership. Census information for Takoma Park is available from 1900 through 1940. These records are available through a variety of source such as Ancestry.com and the Library of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maps \u2013 <\/strong>A variety of current and historical maps show the evolution of Takoma Park and the surrounding area, including streets and roads, subdivisions, and locations of houses. Current land ownership and other land use characteristics appear on the Montgomery County<\/strong><\/a> and District of Columbia<\/a><\/strong> digital atlases. Maps of Maryland subdivisions can be found in the State of Maryland plats inde<\/strong>x<\/a>. The Library of Congress has digitized a number of Takoma area maps that available online, like this Baist\u2019s Real Estate map<\/a><\/strong> from 1904. Some of the maps in Historic Takoma’s Research Archives can be found here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Montgomery County Historical Society digital repository contains digitized images from Klinge’s real estate atlases<\/strong><\/a>, published in various forms from 1931 to 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family histories \u2013 <\/strong>Genealogical research is a useful tool to supplement property and house history research, as well as learning more about the people that preceded us. A variety of tools and sources are available as listed below. Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com area common tools for tracing family histories, but many other sources and tools are also available. Free access is available through the Library of Congress, National Archives, DC Public Library, and Montgomery Public Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Directories<\/strong> \u2013 City directories contain alphabetical listings of residents and businesses. Many also contain street cross references. Early city directories often included occupational information as well. Sources of city directories are listed below. Historic Takoma has local directories for 1922 <\/a><\/strong>and 1933<\/a><\/strong>. City directories are available in many libraries including Library of Congress and the People’s Archive of the DC Public Library. Online directories are available from various locations including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n