Researching Historic Homes & Buildings: Example of a Building Search

Located at 2323 Carey Ave., Cheyenne, Wyoming. (Google Street Scene, 2011)

To show how to use the resources mentioned in this guide, here's an example, with suggested steps, exploring the history of the Idelman Mansion currently used as the Governor's Office. By using the resources, I am able to find:

• who built the home and when
• history of owners/people involved with the property
• history of tax and assessment values on the property
• background information about the people involved with the property
• changes made to the property
• photos of the building
• newspaper articles referring to the building and personal lives of the owners

With a known address, 2323 Carey Ave, I chose the Sanborn Insurance Maps to find the legal description of the building. It is located on the corner of Carey (previously Ferguson) and West 24th Street. I started with the 1892 map.  In 1892, there is no structure on that corner. The next available map, 1894, shows a building and I am able to confirm that the block number is 169 and the lots are 3 and 4. I can estimate the date of construction between 1892 and 1894.  

Now equipped with the legal description, I can start searching through Laramie County Land Records to find out more about the history of the property.

Next, turning to the land abstracts, I found the entry for Block 169. Comprised of two pages, I used the Lots column and traced the history of Lots 3 & 4. In 1877, the two lots were sold to RD and JM Carey by the Union Pacific Railroad for $240. (line 3) In 1887, Robert D., Joseph M. and Louisa Carey sold the property to Max Idelman through a warranty deed, turning a nice profit at $4,500 since it was now across from the newly built Capitol. (line 22) The property was transferred to a Fannie Idelman in 1917 (line 30) and she was forced to mortgage and then sell it to Charles Rigdon in 1920. (line 44-45) The City of Cheyenne placed a lien on the property in 1924 (line 58-61) and again in 1925. (line 68) It was sold back to Fannie for back taxes in 1925/26 (line 69-71). Fannie then transferred the property to Samuel Idelman in 1926 for "$1 & c" meaning "$1 and consideration" (Samuel was probably family). (line 72)

Later on, Samuel sold it to the Schraders, who then transferred it into the name of their business, Schrader's Funeral Home. A mortgage was taken out soon after, which was probably used to remodel the property.

Page 1

Using this information I can look up the Book and Page in the Laramie County Clerk records and find the warranty deed for the property.  Using the Idelman name, I can now look through tax assessment rolls to find out more information about the property and Max Idelman.

Looking up Max Idelman in the tax rolls, I can see he owns additional properties, the value of his investments, inventories of household goods and livestock as well as his tax payments.

Page 1

Page 2

After looking at the land abstract and other property records, I see that the owner that built the home was Max Idelman. But who was Max Idelman? Using the city directories and Wyoming Newspapers, I pieced together more personal information about him.

1905 Cheyenne Polk City Directory (pg 156)
The entry tells me that Max Idelman is the President of Idelman Brothers Co.,
he lives on Ferguson still and his wife's name is Fannie.

Notice of return from trip to California in the
society section of the Cheyenne State Leader
June 6, 1909 (pg 7)

Snippet of Obituary for Max Idelman giving a brief 
background of his career and details about his funeral
service.
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
March 26, 1913 (pg 1)

In addition to these resources, I could use the Federal Census to find out more biographical information on Max and his family.

One of the newspaper articles showed a photo of the Idelman home. When searching the Wyoming State Archives Photo Collection, I was able to find another photo. Although there is no date, there are differences between the two photos. The one below shows the house at a similar angle, but the fence is different and the State Capitol cannot be seen to the left of the home. This photo could have been taken earlier than the one appearing in the 1905 newspaper article.

• Starting with the address of the former Schrader's Funeral Home, I began my research by looking up the legal description of the property.
  A property first appeared on the Sanborn Insurance Maps by 1894 on Block 169 and Lots 3 and 4.
• Using the legal description, I found the Land Abstract for Block 169 in the Laramie County Clerk records. The chronology noted property transactions until the 1960s, including the change of hands to the Schrader family and the funeral home. Looking at the early entries, I found that Robert D., Joseph R. & Louisa Carey sold the property to Max Idelman in 1887 through a warranty deed. As I saw on the Sanborn Insurance Maps, the home was likely built between the years 1892 and 1894. But, who was Max Idelman?
• With the owner's name, I turned to my next resource, the Laramie County Treasurer's Tax Assessment Rolls to find out more information about him-his additional real estate holdings, household inventory, and livestock inventory.
• To find a few pieces of personal and biographical information, I then checked the City Directories and local newspapers. You could also check the Federal Census.
• Finally, I searched for photos to find other images of the property.  
• Using all these resources together, I not only could estimate a time period of construction, I also traced the history of the property before and after it was built. Additionally, I was able to identify the owner that built the home and by using further resources, learned more about his life and the property where he lived. All these elements together, provide only one story, of the many, related to this building.