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

• Newberry Library Digital Collection: https://collections.newberry.org/
• Hull-House Maps and Papers (1895) — hand-drawn maps of the 19th Ward by nationality and wages, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001133285
• 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
• List of historical maps: https://jazzagechicago.wordpress.com/general-chicago-history/
• 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: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11064.html

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 

• Chronicling America, Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/chronicling-america/
  • relevant newspapers include Chicago Tribune, Chicago Defender (Black paper), Dziennik Chicagoski (ethnic press; there are others), The Day Book (labor paper, 1911-1917)
• newspapers.com, UChicago library
  • Go to the database finder on the library website by selecting “Articles, Journals, and Databases” and click the radio button for Databases. Enter “Newspapers.com”.
  • 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/
• UIC digital collection: https://digital.library.uic.edu/
• Encyclopedia of Chicago: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/ 
• Black and white aerial photos from the 1930s: Illinois Historical Aerial Photography
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs: https://loc.gov/pictures/

• 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 

• 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

• 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/