Researching the History of Your House in Gaston County

• 929.1 FAM NCC. "Researching Your Ancestors' Houses." Family Chronicle. Vol. 15, No. 2 (Nov/Dec 2010): Pgs. 42 - 43.
• How to Research the History of Your House
  Go to: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/how-to-research-history-your-house
• Home Histories: How to Discover Who Used to Live in Your Home
  Go to: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/home-histories-how-to-discover-who-used-to-live-in-your-home-195311

• 720.975 BRE NCC. The Architectural Heritage of Gaston County North Carolina.
• 720.975 GAS NCC. Gaston County Architectural Heritage Driving Tour.
• 720.9756 BIS NCC. A guide to the historic architecture of Piedmont North Carolina.
• Gaston County Architectural Heritage Driving Tour. Gaston County Historic Preservation Commission (Gastonia, N.C.) A pictorial tour and guide through the historic architectural buildings and homes throughout Gaston County. 1982?

To understand the style of your home and design of your neighborhood, you will need an understanding of Gaston County, NC. This is particularly true for people living in a Historic District or one of the many mill villages that are scattered throughout Gaston County.

• 920 RAG NC. The Textile Heritage of Gaston County, North Carolina, 1848-2000: One Hundred Mills and the Men Who Built Them.
  While many of the textile mills are gone, most of the mill villages that were built around them still exist.
• 975.677 AHE NCC. Gastonia and Gaston County, North Carolina.
• 975.677 WIL NCC. Gaston County: A Pictorial History.

Gaston County

• Designated Gaston County Historic Properties - Historic Preservation Commission
  Go to: http://www.gastongov.com/government/boards_and_committees/historic_preservation_commission/local_designation.php
• National Register of Historic Places & Study List: Gaston County
  Go to: http://www.gastongov.com/government/boards_and_committees/historic_preservation_commission/national_register.php 
• The State Historic Preservation Office has posted PDFs of nominations of the state's approximately 2,900 National Register listings, including listings for Gaston County.
  • North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places
    Go to: https://www.ncdcr.gov/about/history/division-historical-resources/nc-state-historic-preservation-office/architectural-0
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Gaston County, North Carolina (Wikipedia)
  Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Gaston_County,_North_Carolina
• York Chester National Historic District (Gastonia, NC)
  Go to: http://www.yorkchester.org/
• The Evolution of Textile Mill Villages
  Go to: http://ncpedia.org/textiles/mill-villages

Gastonia

• City of Gastonia Historic Districts
  Go To: https://www.cityofgastonia.com/historic-districts2.html
• City of Gastonia Planning Department Maps. Map Gallery includes Brookwood Local Historic District, York-Chester Local Historic District, and York-Chester National Historic District. 
  Go To: https://www.cityofgastonia.com/plans-and-maps2/maps.html

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

• Access to Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for North Carolina is available via NCLive.org. Use the "Help" link to learn more about the information provided by these maps.
  • Go to: https://www.nclive.org/cgi-bin/nclsm?rsrc=140
• The University of South Carolina provides an online digital collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of South Carolina that you can search by keyword or browse by city, county, or year.
  • Go to: https://digital.library.sc.edu/collections/sanborn-fire-insurance-maps-of-south-carolina/
• For more Sanborn maps, see Sanborn Maps Libguide.

There are a variety of records that you can use in your search for information about your house.

• Property Records

  Original Deeds found in the Gaston County Register of Deed's Office include Records from 1845 to present.
  (Prior deed records recorded in Lincoln County). 
  Go to: http://www.gastongov.com/government/departments/register_of_deeds/index.php
  
  Digital images of many Gaston County land records can be found at FamilySearch.org in the following collection:
  Index to deeds and mortgages, 1846-1961; deeds and mortgages, 1847-1961 (Index and images)
  Important: Not every deed is available on Gaston County Register of Deeds website, so be sure to check FamilySearch.org
  Go to: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/312602

   

  To locate an online county property record visit the Gaston County Interactive GIS website and select "Data Search Site."
  Go to: https://gis.gastongov.com/ 
  
  At the Gaston County Interactive GIS website, you'll be able to learn:

  • Date of Construction; Tax ID #; Parcel ID #

  • Current Owners; Legal Description (Block & Lot); Acreage

  • Deed History (Previous Owners); Links to current aerial maps

  Using the "Online Deed Search" at the Gaston County Register of Deeds website is much easier once you have the information provided in the online county property record (particularly Neighborhood and Legal Description).
  Important: Not every deed is available on Gaston County Register of Deeds website, so be sure to check FamilySearch.org
  Go to: https://deeds.co.gaston.nc.us/external/LandRecords/protected/v4/SrchName.aspx

   

• Gaston County Estate Records, 1839-1928

  Estate records are in this collection at FamilySearch, North Carolina Estate Files. They are searchable by name or you can browse by county. 
  Go to: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1911121

   

• City Directories

  Gaston County is a textile county and the city directories give an insight into that phase of our history as "mill villages" appear and disappear. As the cities grew, many of these once company-owned villages were swallowed up. Some are still identifiable as communities and others only by the street names they left behind them.
  Go to: http://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/city-directories

   

• Tax Records

  Research Gaston County tax bills or payments. Search by Names (Last name First name), Receipt Numbers, Parcel Numbers, Bill Numbers, Owner IDs, and Addresses.
  Go to: https://www.gastontax.com/#/

   

• Gaston County Records on Microfilm

  Includes Records of Wills, Estates, Deeds and Tax Lists.
  Go to: http://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/records-on-microfilm/gaston-county

Author: Gaston County Public Library
Title: Researching the History of Your House in Gaston County
URL: http://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/house-histories
Revised: 25 September 2019

The North Carolina Architects & Builders website has a biographical dictionary of architects and builders who have produced North Carolina's architecture for more than 300 years. You can search by name, building, work locations, trades, and years active.

Go to: http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.ed