April 23, 2014

National Register of Historic Places - An Overlooked Treasure!

I'm probably the last to realize this, but I've recently discovered the genealogical treasures held in the nomination forms for the National Register of Historic Places. Wow!  

I owe the folks on the Wake, Harnett, & Johnston County Genealogy Facebook page a huge THANK YOU for enlightening me! These forms are used to nominate properties for the National Register and golly gee do they contain some great stuff:

  • History of the general area in the nomination
  • Thorough description of the property including location, past owners, and the genealogy of those owners
  • References such as census records, newspaper articles, survey maps, deeds, vital records and on and on and on
  • Transcripts of live interviews with descendants
  • Pictures of the building and property
As an example, the above form is nominating the Godfrey Stancil (my 1st cousin 7x removed) House and grounds in the Penny Hill area of Edgecombe County, NC. It provides a rich detailed history of Penny Hill, thorough description of the house and property, GOLDEN genealogical info on cuz'n Godfrey including all the references mentioned above (it's already sourced for you!). 

You can read or download the entire document here

You can find a complete list of nominated places in NC here - along with all the documentation and maps. HOW COOL!

I'm usually a day late and a dollar short, but at least this time I'm just late to the party. Have fun geeking out with the National Register of Historic Places!


1 comment:

  1. Had no idea this information was available online. Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete