Home Sweet Home: Conducting Property Research
Are you interested in the history of your home? The information contained in this page is intended to help guide you in such a quest. Due to the fact that the SCLH is primarily a manuscript repository, the best way that our collections may be of use is through researching the names of previous owners and occupants of a home. Therefore, a little leg work needs to be done in order to get to this stage in your research.
Where Do I Start?
The best place to begin this type of inquiry is at the Penrose Public Library/Special Collections (www.ppld.org) with a publication titled Sadie’s House. Written by local resident Matt Railey, the pamphlet outlines the various avenues to take when pursuing information on historic homes located in Colorado Springs. According to the author, “the Penrose Library has more information than any other single source,” and we would have to agree with him! After gathering the pertinent information from the library’s resources, and depending on the location of your home, you may want to contact the Old Colorado City Historical Center or the Manitou Historical Society to find whether they may be of assistance in your quest.
Once you’ve created a list of former owners/occupants, you may submit a research request to the SCLH. We will compare those names to the various indices for our collections to check if we have any materials that may be of use to you. If we determine that a visit to the SCLH would indeed be beneficial, we will contact you to schedule an appointment. Please note: due to the volume of requests that we receive, that this process may take seven to ten business days.