How old is your home, school, church or that old farm house down the street? The older the building the harder it is to nail down a year or decade. But here are some tips. Old property maps will give you a rough idea but the first Delaware County detailed map is from 1848, though there is one from 1816 that is useful but not very detailed. Title searching is the way to go, looking up the Grantee[buyer] or the Grantor[seller] can help nail the date down. Prior to 1900 deeds are almost always in the mans name only. Wives are mentioned but the man was usually the owner listed. But just because a "messuage" aka building is listed on the deed does not mean it is YOUR house. After the Civil War deeds became more standard like the are today, buyer, seller, land and cost. Before the Civil War deeds could be all over with useful and useless information. Older deeds often mention, marriages, deaths and sometimes mention the house builder and when. At the same time many old deeds often have as little or just what information that was required. Some deeds prior to 1820 mention the property owners all the way back to William Penn. Delaware County was formed in 1789 and early deeds often take the property back to Chester County and earlier.
Don't believe date stones and plaques on buildings. I know of several buildings that have painted dates on the buildings that are wrong, one is forty years off! One official plaque gives a date of 1899, but the local newspaper states the official opening of the building is October 1900 when work was completed.
Tax records can be a help. After 1765 approx. buildings are mentioned but it might not be your building. That is were the 1798 window tax comes in. In 1798 the Federal Government decided to tax panes of glass. Their theory in 1798 was only rich people had glass windows, poor people did not. You paid a higher tax the more glass panes you had in your windows. The tax only lasted one year. What the tax deed was record the width and length of the building, how many stories, building materials used, window sizes etc. It can narrow down how old your house is, if it goes back this far.
Beginning as early as the 1840's local newspapers such as the Upland Union, would occasionally mention homes etc. being built. After the 1880's house building was mentioned all the time in newspapers like the Chester Times[1876] and the Morton Chronicle[1880] would cover local building extensively. The Morton Chronicle would often mention the builders and architect names. Sometimes they mention the moving day!! The Chester Times beginning in 1913 did a article every Friday about building in Delco. Several years are on my website, delawarecountyhistory.com
Just because when you title search your property back to an empty lot does not mean they started building the day after they bought it. There might be a year or two or even longer.
Of course dates can make people happy or mad. One new Ridley Park homeowners were so happy when I showed them their home was ten years older then the realtor said. At the same time when I told another person their property was 3 years younger than what he thought he was livid. It pays to title search!
When title searching don't forget the obvious!! I was title searching one of the prettiest Victorian homes in Ridley Park and could not locate the deed for the one owner, Various documents had them living in the home from the 1890's thru the 1950's. I tripled checked his name and his wife's name and NO luck I looked over a period of 15 years and nothing. It was driving me crazy! I finally found the deed. It stated the obvious. The family had rented the property for almost 20 years before buying it!! DUH
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