Resources

• Log in via UChicago: https://geo.btaa.org/catalog/999-0010-illinois and click on interactive map and enter an address
• Or, search through the Library of Congress site: https://loc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/interactivelegend/index.html?appid=624932185ad44c569c3c23baa8668cc3
• Download multiple years if available to view side by side for changes
• Sanborn key: https://www.loc.gov/static/collections/sanborn-maps/about-this-collection/overview.html 
• Deciphering Sanborn codes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lUfScyzPCW_DZTaFsHBOGhi_8VLgDY5waKJcMAt5OpI/edit?usp=sharing 
• The Chicago Urban Heritage Project is attempting to georeference Sanborn maps for easier analysis of urban change. A few parts of Chicago have been done: https://chicagourbanheritage.com/all-maps

1. Find your building’s pin number and record year built/building age (PIN = property index number).

• Do this interactively with Cook Viewer: https://maps.cookcountyil.gov/cookviewer/ or search by address here: https://www.cookcountyassessoril.gov/

2. Street renumbering

Street numbers changed in 1909 & 1911. Street name changes: http://chsmedia.org/househistory/nameChanges/start.pdf 

• Look up here: Chicago Street Renumbering
• Reference guide that lists pre-1909 street addresses and their post-1909 renumbering replacement
• Check the annexation: https://chicagology.com/population/annexation/ (can see that 1890 was a big change)

3. Building permits (digitized by UIC 1872-1954)

Owner at time of construction, date of application, contractor, maybe architect, report

• Two part system – 1) index or file card and 2) permit
  • Start at UIC: https://researchguides.uic.edu/CBP 
  • 1st, building street index: https://digital.library.uic.edu/permits-index
  • 2^nd, ledger books: https://digital.library.uic.edu/permits-ledgers
• Might have architect and contractor, which could be additional web searches

• Great for neighborhood research

• For individuals listed by block: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/ 
  • Find enumeration district (ET to provide)
  • Will need Ward and Enumeration District
    • 1899 Wards: https://ark.lib.uchicago.edu/ark:61001/b2jp02h5bc12  
    • 1900 Wards: https://ark.lib.uchicago.edu/ark:61001/b26k90c3zp9q
    • 1901 Wards: https://ark.lib.uchicago.edu/ark:61001/b2j789d1rp93
• For more dates, go to the Mapping Chicagoland collection and search on “Chicago Wards”: https://node.uchicago.edu/collection/mapping-chicagoland 
• Census tract data back to 1900 (ET to provide)
  • Ancestry.com – search by name (find name from criss-cross directories)

• Useful for figuring out what was located at an address

• Polk’s Directory, 1928-1929, here: http://chsmedia.org/househistory/polk/index.htm 

• Criss cross directories – search by address to find a name by address

• Chicago historic schools: https://chicagohistoricschools.wordpress.com/ 

• Explore Mapping Chicagoland: https://node.uchicago.edu/collection/mapping-chicagoland 

• newspapers.com or Chicago tribune – UChicago library
  • Search by name or address
    • Go to the database finder on the library website by hitting the tab for “Articles, Journals, and Databases” and click the radio button for Databases. From there put in Newspapers.com and it’ll come up in the search. 
    • Here is the direct link: https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/h/npcom
  • Note: If you are off campus you might need to establish a secure connection (vpn). Instructions here: https://uchicago.service-now.com/esc?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB06000630 

The challenge is to find photos linked to specific addresses, blocks, neighborhoods

• https://chicagocollections.org
• Chicago public library neighborhood collections: https://www.chipublib.org/archival_subject/neighborhoods/ 
• Chicago public library digital collections (history): https://www.chipublib.org/digital-collections
• ARCHIE – Chicago History Museum
• CARLI – Newberry Museum
• Historypin.org: https://www.historypin.org/en/
• Encyclopedia of Chicago: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/ 
• Black and white aerial photos from the 1930s: Illinois Historical Aerial Photography
• The Chicago 80 Acre Map Library – a catalog of individual pages, each representing 80 acres of land, based on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s, Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Land Survey System (PLSS). Important for understanding historic property subdivisions.

• Landmarks (buildings and districts), national register (buildings and districts), CHRS
• Start here: Mappingchicagopreservation.org
• Chicago Landmarks and Landmark Districts are the most protected. 
  • Full list is here. Find reports on individual buildings and districts here: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/proposed_and_recentlydesignatedlandmarkstaffreports.html 
• National register historic building or historic district forms
  • NR nomination forms can provide a lot of history
  • List of National Register buildings in Chicago: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/National_Register_List_31OCT2025.pdf 
  • To find reports, start with the National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table 
  • Then try: https://archive.org/details/NationalRegisterNominationsForChicago/ 
• Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS)
  • approx 17,371 properties in the database; about 4,500 are Chicago Landmarks
  • Search the database here: https://webapps1.chicago.gov/landmarksweb/web/historicsurvey.htm 

• Nice webinar on researching building history by the Chicago Bungalow Association: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=012pjDoztLU&t=7s 
• Your house has a history: https://www.chicago.gov/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Your_House_Has_A_History.pdf 
• Chicago Genealogical Society: https://chicagogenealogy.org/ 
• Find property deeds here but they only go back to 1980s: https://ccrd.cookcountyclerkil.gov/i2/default.aspx
• Chicago land use survey: https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/collections/maps/chigov/G4104-C6G4-1922-C5-index1.html and here is the legend: https://uchicago.app.box.com/s/h80t9gxpg38h9nyyrjdtvgzhvkewpbhw
• A great list of historical maps: https://jazzagechicago.wordpress.com/general-chicago-history/
• Here is a curated selection of Chicago historical maps from the David Rumsey Map Collection, spanning 1862 to 1913 and illustrating the city’s rapid growth, infrastructure, and urban planning evolution: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search
• Robinson’s Atlas of the City of Chicago, 1886, can be found here: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11064.html

• Chicago Film Archives: https://www.chicagofilmarchives.org/ 

• Chicago 1920s – https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Browse/Objects/facets/places%3A8%3Bhas_media%3A1%3Bdate%3A1920s?pk_vid=c752613d68db6dab177801697429cc12 

• Chicago in the 1920s AI reconstruction (a lot wrong here but interesting to watch): https://youtu.be/jQPPAISsr1Y?si=qh-zHhEukYCtRW5-

• Chicago 1900: https://youtu.be/e4dlfkIEfkU?si=uWRLhPJ4YF3YIp-n