Friday, May 27, 2011

Find Your Ancestor's House Using Zillow

Zillow.com is a real estate web site for people looking to buy or sell a house.  The information available there can also help you learn more about your ancestors.  If you already know an ancestor’s address, enter it (including the city and state/province, or county and country) into the “Neighborhood Search” box and click [enter]. If there a house with that address, Zillow takes you directly to information about that property.  If there is no house with that address, Zillow takes you to the neighborhood.

To see the date the house was built, its approximate value today, and when it was bought and sold most recently, select Details. Click on Views to see what the house looks like today (or if a freeway runs through where it used to stand!).  Zillow can also show you nearby parks and schools that may be mentioned in personal journals or appear in family photos.

If you don’t already know where your ancestor lived, you can discover that information through census records, city directories, real estate records, birth and death certificates and other public records.