Who lived here
The researched history of your Cook County home
We search the public records for your address, as far back as they go, and send you a designed PDF with every fact cited. Delivered within 72 hours, for $47.
Read a real report first
The complete sample for 2845 N. Clark St., Lake View, Chicago: 18 pages, with every fact cited to a public record. Click any page below to open the PDF in a new tab.
This sample edition uses only public-domain scans: Library of Congress Sanborn maps, the City of Chicago's 1909 renumbering plan, pre-1929 directories and newspapers, and National Archives census sheets.
The story of your home, from the records
Every older home in Cook County, in Chicago or the suburbs, has a paper trail: a line on a fire-insurance map, a name on a census sheet, a deed in the county index, a mention in a local newspaper. In Chicago, it might be a building permit from the city's 1872–1954 records or a street number from before the 1909 renumbering. In a suburb like Wilmette, it might be an item in the village paper. Most people never see any of it, because it's scattered across microfilm, handwritten ledgers, county indexes and library scans.
We search those records for your address, as far back as they go, and send you a designed, fully cited PDF that's honest about what we couldn't find.
What's in your report
What goes in depends on what the records hold for your address.
- Your address, then and nowincluding the pre-1909 street number
- The original building permit, if one is on filepermit number, date, the owner who pulled it, the builder or architect and the stated cost, transcribed from the city's handwritten ledgers and checked against the index card
- Who owned it: the chain of titlein every report, built from public records: the Cook County Clerk's online deed index from the mid-1980s on, and for earlier years the original permit, old newspaper and trade-journal notices, directories and the census's owned-or-rented column. Earlier ownership often has gaps, and we mark them.
- A historic map or image of your blockwhenever the records have one
- Who lived hereheads of household from the census and city directories, decade by decade, and the story of one family told from the records
- The story of your house and blockin short chapters, with a timeline
- Your neighborswhen the buildings around yours went up
- Still to Discoverthe open questions the records hint at, and where the answers may be waiting
- Every source listedplus a checklist of every record we searched
- A dedication pagefor gifts, in your words
Every fact is footnoted. Anything we couldn't confirm is marked unverified. One price, $47, for everything we find: no add-ons, no upsells.
What makes us different
One flat price for the research that matters, with the sources to prove it.
- Permits and owners, includedThe original building permit when one is on file, and the chain of title we can document, come with every $47 report. Elsewhere, permit and deed research can be reserved for much pricier packages.
- Every fact citedEach fact is footnoted to its source, and anything we couldn't confirm is marked unverified. We also list every record set we searched, including the ones that came up empty.
- Built on Chicago's recordsFor Chicago homes, we work through the 1909 address renumbering, the city's 1872–1954 permit records, fire-insurance maps and the census households, decade by decade.
- Designed, in 72 hoursA designed, printable PDF within 72 hours of your order, or your money back.
Where the records come from
Public records and archives. Census and permit entries are transcribed into your report and cited to the original, so you can look them up yourself.
- Library of CongressSanborn fire-insurance maps, drawn building by building
- National ArchivesCensus records, including the original 1940 and 1950 census sheets
- Cook County ClerkThe recordings (deed) index, from the mid-1980s on
- Cook County AssessorProperty characteristics and the estimated year built
- City of ChicagoThe 1909 Plan of Re-Numbering, which links old street numbers to today's
- UIC LibraryDigitized Chicago building permits, 1872–1954
- Public library scansOld city directories and newspapers, each checked on the page image
How it works
You pay up front. The records check runs right after.
- Order.Enter the address and pay securely. Know something already, like a family story or an earlier owner's name? Reply to your order confirmation email with it.
- We check the records right away.If there isn't enough for a real report, a person confirms it, refunds you in full, and tells you what we searched. You'll hear from us within one business day.
- We research and write.Permits, maps, census, directories, newspapers and deeds, as far back as they go.
- Get your PDF within 72 hoursof your order. Every fact is cited.
A gift that's about a place
For a housewarming, an anniversary or the holidays, or a keepsake for a family leaving a home they loved.
- The PDF comes to you. We email it to you, the buyer, not to the recipient, so you can forward it or print it and hand it over yourself.
- Your message goes on the dedication page, in your words. Say it's a gift at checkout, then reply to your order confirmation email within 24 hours of ordering with the recipient's name and your message. If it arrives later, we'll still include it if your report hasn't gone out yet.
- No need to know the history. The address is enough.
- Realtors: a closing gift for your buyers, for any home in Cook County.
We take orders any time, day or night. The 72-hour promise applies to every order.
Our guarantee
A PDF can't be returned, so all sales are final, with four exceptions.
Not enough records? Full refund.
We check right after you order. If the records are too thin, a person confirms it, we refund you in full and tell you why.
72 hours or your money back.
If we miss the 72-hour window, you get a full refund, and you still get the report.
Any factual error, corrected free.
Tell us and we'll check it against the record and send a corrected PDF.
Home outside Cook County? Full refund.
We only research homes in Cook County. If an order for a home outside the county comes through by mistake, we refund it in full.
Private by design
Your report goes to you and nobody else. We don't post it or use it as a sample unless you tell us in writing that we can.
We name historic heads of household and summarize children without naming them. We never name the current owner, or the current owner's company or trust, and we leave out sale prices from roughly the last 25 years.
Questions
Do you cover my town?
We cover homes anywhere in Cook County, Illinois, including Chicago and the suburbs. We don't take orders outside Cook County yet. If one comes through by mistake, we refund it in full.
The ZIP check on the order form uses the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 ZIP-to-county file. ZIPs that cross the Cook County line are accepted, and our records check confirms the home is in Cook County before we start.
My address was different a hundred years ago, or my house has few records. Is it still worth it?
Usually, yes. In 1909 Chicago renumbered nearly every address in the city. We look up your building's old number in the city's printed 1909 renumbering plan and search the older records under that number too. When an old record could belong to a different building with the same number, we say so instead of guessing.
Chicago's permit records start in 1872 and only cover buildings inside the city at the time, so some older houses were never issued a Chicago permit. Those houses usually still turn up on fire-insurance maps, in city directories and in the census. If the records turn out too thin for a real report, we refund you in full.
Is the ownership history a title search?
No. Reports are historical research from public records and archives. They are not a title search, title insurance, a survey, or legal advice, and shouldn't be relied on for a purchase, sale or legal dispute. The Cook County Clerk's online deed index begins in the mid-1980s. Older deeds are kept in tract books that can only be searched in person at the Clerk's office, so for earlier years we build the ownership history from permits, old notices and the census, and we say where the gaps are. An in-person tract-book search is coming later as an optional extra.
Will you put my information or my home online?
No. Your report goes to you and nobody else. We don't post it or use it as a sample unless you tell us in writing that we can. We never name the current owner, or the current owner's company or trust. For the 1940 and 1950 censuses, whose residents may still be alive, we list heads of household only, describe children without naming them, and leave out sensitive details such as income.
Who does the research? Do you use AI?
We use software tools, including AI, to search and transcribe records faster; every fact is checked against its source and cited, and anything we couldn't confirm is marked unverified.
What if you get something wrong?
Tell us. We'll check it against the record and, if we got it wrong, send you a corrected PDF free. Reports are PDF only for now, designed so you can print them at home or at a print shop.