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Researching a Minneapolis House or Building

• Special Collections

There are many useful sources for discovering the history of a house or building located in the city of Minneapolis. Described below are some of the most helpful resources to be found in the Minneapolis Collection* of the Special Collections Department at Minneapolis Central Library. Other resources are also noted.

House History Workshops

House history workshops are held periodically at Hennepin County Library-Minneapolis locations.   They are led by Heather Lawton, Central Library Special Collections Librarian and John Lawton, Assistant Librarian at the University of MInnesota John R. Borchert Map Library.

The presentation explains the many tools and resources available at Minneapolis Central Library and throughout the city for house history researchers. The next workshop is at Central Library in the Doty Board Room (2nd Floor) on Thursday, September 11th from 6-7:30 pm. This workshop is free but space is limited so please register online after August 11th at http://www.hclib.org/pub/events/.

Atlases and Maps

Special Collections has atlases for the city of Minneapolis published in 1885, 1887, 1892, 1898, 1903, 1914, and 1940. These maps give the "footprint" of all buildings in the city as well as showing the water and sewer lines and the street railway lines. The plates use color coding to indicate the major type of building material used. By comparing the atlases, you can see how the city developed -- including street name changes. Also available are maps of all or parts of the city of Minneapolis dating from 1857, when Minneapolis and Saint Anthony were two separate towns to the present.

The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, available at Central Library, are similar to these city atlases.

City Directories and Dual City Blue Books

Minneapolis city directories can be used to trace specific people and businesses for the years from 1859 to the present. These directories are especially helpful when you are looking for an address, name of spouse, place of employment, business officers, and descriptions of businesses. Beginning with the 1930 directory, people and businesses can also be searched by address, and beginning with the 1968 directory, by telephone number. City directories are also a source for information on schools, cemeteries, churches, and fire stations.

The Dual City Blue Book listed its subscribers in a reverse directory by address for Minneapolis and St. Paul.  From 1885-1924, find information about the owners of a house if they subscribed to the Dual City Blue Book.

Suburban and other Minnesota city directories are available at Central Library.

Indexes for Houses and Buildings

Information such as date of completion, architect, architectural style, and other facts for specific buildings and houses may be found in the Minneapolis Collection in the files Building and Place Index, Index of House by Owner, and Index of House by Address. Other files include biographical and company information. The material comes mostly from newspapers and magazine articles, tour booklets, photos, or historic preservation material.

Books

Books of house plans by Minneapolis architects covering predominately the years 1900 to 1930 are available in the Minneapolis Collection. Some of the books were published in Minneapolis by Max L. Keith or Arthur C. Clausen. These are good resources for original floor plans and exterior views.

Central Library has house plan books covering a broader range of years. Check the MPL catalog under the subject heading "Architecture, Domestic--United States," and "Architecture, Domestic--Designs and Plans."

Example of a Building Permit Index Card

Building Permit Index Cards

Starting in 1884, the city required permits to be taken out for building, remodeling, and demolition projects within the city limits. The Building Permit Index Cards for the years 1884 to 1973 are filed in the Special Collections Department, organized by address. Each card provides the legal description of a property and a summary of permits pulled for work to be done on a building (organized by date): e.g. plumbing, electricity, or repair.

Each permit was assigned a number. Using this number, you can visit the Department of Inspections at City Hall to view the full Building (or Wrecking) Permit. The original Building Permit may provide details on the owner, the architect or the contractor, and a description of work to be done. The Wrecking Permit will note the new address if a building was moved rather than demolished.

With the legal description, the Hennepin County Recorder's Office can assist you in locating the abstract or Torrens Registrar of Title for the property. The abstract or Torrens will list all the previous owners back to when the land was first surveyed.

Central Library has microfilm of permits taken out between the years of 1973 and 1989. For legal description, year structure was built, most recent sale of property, and tax information, you can check in the Property Identification Directories (PIDs) for Hennepin County, also available at Central Library.

Detail from the 1928 Minneapolis City Directory

Periodicals

Building information published in magazines between 1890 and 1931 can be located through the Architecture Index in Special Collections.

For architectural articles in periodicals indexed on national resources check American House Designs: an index to popular and trade periodicals, 1850-1915, the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals and Art Index located at Central Library (or access the online version in our website).

Levi Stewart House at 4th and Hennepin, 1908
(On the site of the current Central Library)

Photographs, Drawings, and Postcards

House and building images may be found in photographs, in panoramic drawings, and postcards of the city on file in Special Collections. The photo collection contains roughly 30,000 photographs. The strength of the collection is in buildings, people, and events for the years 1850 to 1970. A limited number of panoramic drawings of Minneapolis may also be found in the collection. The postcard collection is organized by subject (for example, hotels, then name of hotel). Ask a staff member for help with accessing these images.

"Vertical File" Material

If you know the name of a house owner or business, you can ask staff to look for files of newspaper clippings and ephemera in the Minneapolis Vertical File in Special Collections. This heavily-used collection is particularly strong for information on buildings and people but it also includes files on houses, apartments, churches, etc. There is a fairly extensive collection on home and building tours. Also included are Heritage Preservation Commission materials and National Register of Historic Places Inventory nomination forms. Staff will retrieve materials for you on request.

St. James A.M.E. Church, 36th and Snelling Ave. S.

OTHER SOURCES FOR INFORMATION ON MINNEAPOLIS HOUSES OR BUILDINGS

A good place to learn more about researching a building's history is the book Drafting a House History, compiled by Barbara Bezat and Alan K. Lathrop (Minneapolis: Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota, 1979).

Local Repository Contact Information:

It is always best to call before visiting any repository to ensure that a staff member will be available to assist you during your visit and to determine whether the institution has information relevant to your specific research project. 

Special Collections
Minneapolis Central Library
300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
(612) 630-6350 telephone
(612) 630-6210 Fax
specialcoll@hclib.org

*The Minneapolis Collection is the largest of the ten collections in Minneapolis Central Library's Special Collections. Due to the unique and valuable nature of these resources, all items must be used in the reading room. Identification may be requested before some items may be used. Users may take notes (pencil only) and may use a self service copier to photocopy some materials. A camera copy stand is available for use and, for a fee, reprints of photographs may be ordered.

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