Columbus Landmarks Foundation and Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division are partnering to present a free workshop April 16 on how to date your house and learn its history. Unless you happen to be a descendant of the original owner, tracing the history of an older house can be a complex web. Factor in the challenge here in Franklin County of an 1879 courthouse fire that destroyed many property records, and sleuthing can become a challenge! In fact, if your house is dated 1910 or 1920 on the Franklin County Auditor’s website, it very well could be older.
Expert researchers at the workshop will teach you the tricks of the trade to become your own architectural historian … or detective! Even if your house is newer or you think you know its date, this workshop will help fill in any blanks about prior residents and your neighborhood’s history.
Step one in dating your house is usually finding it on an old map. >>VIEW these 1836-1941 Columbus maps for clues. These maps illustrate the growth of the city at a particular point in time and may help you understand how your house and neighborhood developed.
Workshop participants whose homes are 50 years old or older are eligible to enter a drawing to win a free Columbus Landmarks Foundation house plaque customized with the year their house was built and to have their house listed in Columbus Landmarks’ new old house registry!
The Date Your House Workshop is limited to 30 participants. Please register in advance.
Saturday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to noon – FULL*
*Please check back for future dates.
Location: Columbus Metropolitan Library Whitehall Branch, 4371 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43213
NOTE: When you register, please include the complete address of the home you wish to research so that we can locate helpful resources before the workshop.
I see both classes are sold out but only the classes on the 27th show on your calendar.
Confusing to the pubic.
Sorry about the confusion, Michele. We’re struggling with our calendar tool not allowing us to offer multiple dates at different times. We’re working on it! Please stay tuned – we hope to add additional workshop dates soon.
Even though we were not able to come any closer to dating our house than before we went to the “Date Your House” event, we learned so much! Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge and insights into playing detective into history
Thank you for attending, Barbara! We are going to do a little extra digging and see if we can’t help you zero in on the date. Stay tuned!