Property research can reveal information such as:
- When a building was constructed
- Who built it
- Changes to the building
- Who has lived there
- The history of the neighborhood
You may want to start by determining when the building was constructed. Do this at the local county Assessor’s Office. Find your county here.
Please take a look at our page on Architecture to learn more about the history of architecture in Idaho.
Inventories
- Idaho State Historic Preservation Office
- National Register
- National Register Database and Research – National Park Service
- Preservation Idaho
Libraries and Archives
- Idaho State Archives – Architecture Index, photograph collections, maps, and other materials.
- Federal Land Title Records – General Land Office GLO Records
- Information can also be found using the following:
- FIRM, flood insurance rate maps
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
- Metsker’s Atlases
- Newspapers
- Polk Directories
- Atlases and maps
- Contact your local library to see what is available to you. In addition, check with your county and city offices.
Cities
- Boise City Planning and Development Services – Building Permits, Commercial Building Plans, Commercial Certificates of Occupancy, Historic Surveys, Inspection Records, Planning Entitlements, ePlan Review.
- City of Boise Geographic Information System (GIS)
- City of Boise Historic Preservation
- Directory of Idaho cities – Idaho.gov
Counties
- Ada County Assessor – Division of Land Records – Records of Survey, Subdivision Plats, and Section Maps.
- Directory of county web sites – Idaho.gov
Real Estate
Demographics
- United States Census Bureau – Use this site to find census statistics.
- Census records are made available by the National Archives. The 1940 Census is the most recently available because of a 72 year restriction on the release of Census information. Read more about it, and search, with the National Archive’s Introduction to Census Records.
- Most of the 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire. The Reconstructed 1890 Idaho Census is an attempt by the Idaho State Historical Society to reconstruct the information from the Census.
- Gem State Prospector – Idaho Department of Commerce
Additional Topics
- Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Land Titles and Records
- Water Rights – Idaho Department of Water Resources
Bibliography and Sources
- The Boise City Historic Preservation Plan: purposes, background, goals, and policies implementation. Boise, Idaho: Boise City Historic Preservation Commission, July 1979.
- The Arrowrock Group, Inc. Patterns of the Past: the Ada County historic site inventory. Boise, Idaho: Ada County, 2001.
- Design Guidelines for Residential Historic Districts with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation. Prepared for the City of Boise Historic Preservation Commission by McKibben + Cooper with Todd Maguire, LEED-AP and Diane Kushlan, AICP. Sustainability Content by Winter & Company, 2011. Boise, Idaho: City of Boise Historic Preservation Commission. Adopted August 2013.
- Design Guidelines for Commercial Historic Districts with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation. Prepared for the City of Boise Historic Preservation Commission by McKibben + Cooper Architects. Boise, Idaho: City of Boise Historic Preservation Commission, August 2009.
- Bauer, Barbara Perry and Elizabeth Jacox, TAG Historical Research and Consulting. Erica Jensen and Judith Austin, editors. Shaping Boise: a selection of Boise’s landmark buildings. Boise, Idaho: City of Boise, Department of Planning & Development Services, 2010
- City of Boise Historic Preservation Documents.
- The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
- A History of The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties & Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings. National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
- Referenced historic copies may be available at hathitrust.org.
This page updated by Ronnie Joiner on November 5, 2020.