LibGuides: House & Building History Research: Land

Researching the Land on Which the Building is Located

The property's legal description can be found in the abstract, certificate of ownership, or property record online. For information on finding these materials, please see Getting Started.

The MNHS Library also has a variety of research guides on the subject of Land Records Research:

Land Records Research

Maps at MNHS

Family Farm Research

Land Links

Library Catalog
Search for books, pamphlets, maps, A/V materials, and archival and manuscript collections in our Library Catalog.
Collections Online
Search for photographs of the site and area
Finding Aids
Search the full text of digital finding aids for State Archives and manuscript collections at MNHS.
Minnesota Historical Aerial Photographs Online
Aerial photographs from the John Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota documenting MN communities (best for 1930s to the 1980s).
Land Survey Plats, Field Notes, & Patents
Search Bureau of Land Management documents for early land use and vegetation.
USGS Historic Topographic Map Collection
Includes all editions of the more than 193,000 topographic maps published by the USGS since the inception of the topographic mapping program in 1884.