Want to know your Erie home's history? History Center can provide a property 'detective'
The Hagen History Center can help you learn more about your home's history.
The center has contracted with a researcher who will look into property records, the families who once owned the home, what their community was like decades or centuries before, and even when they came to this country.
"We did some of that research sort of ad hoc when we could," said Theresa Gamble, director of collections for the Hagen History Center. "Every month or so someone will call or stop in wanting to know more about their homes. We can give them what we have on hand — a ready-reference type answer, and direct them to city directories. But not all the records are here. Some are at the county courthouse and even in the minds of people who knew someone who lived in the homes."
And History Center staff have other work to do.
"I really do enjoy the research and wish that I could spend more time on it, but I have other responsibilities and we only have one part-time person doing research," Gamble said. "We decided to offer home and property research as a contracted service."
The researcher is experienced in tracking down information about a home or commercial building, its architecture and history, and even vacant land, Gamble said.
More: Classic American foursquare house in Erie's Kahkwa area has history, Italianate details
The options: From DIY to intensive professional searches
Hagen History Center records and photographs remain open to members who prefer to do their own property research. Membership fees range from $20 to $240.
"What we were hearing is that not everyone has time for the hours of research needed for the 'DIY' approach, so this (new service) gives them an option," Gamble said.
Fees for property research are based on the work required. Here are the services and prices:
Home History — Includes a title search, year built, property description and purchase price, $250.
Home + Families' History — Includes such information as births, marriages, obituaries, schools attended and news clippings about the people who lived there, $500.
History + Family Biographies + Community Involvement — Includes full title search of the property back to the origins of Erie County, family biographical overview, neighborhood development and community history relating to the occupants, $1,000.
History + Detailed Biographies + Architecture — Includes expanded details on former occupants and their community and organization involvement plus a detailed architectural description of the property, possibly with input from an architect, $5,000.
Detailed History + Family Immigration Records — Includes full family history, where families came from and when, and connections to other families, $10,000.
The fees are in line with those charged by professional researchers for comparable services, Gamble said.
The histories can take four to six weeks to complete and sometimes longer, depending on the extent of the research required.
"It's time-consuming work, pulling documents from multiple places and comparing them with other resources," Gamble said. "At this point, it's not something that will be done in time to give as a Christmas gift, but we could come up with a certificate that says it's coming.
"It would also be a good Mother's Day or Father's Day gift for a parent who is especially vested in the property, or a gift for someone who has moved across the country but remembers the family home as the place where everyone gathered," Gamble said.
Hagen History Center benefits, too
The Hagen History Center will get a copy of the home histories.
"We have clippings and information on some of the houses on West Sixth Street, for instance, on buildings downtown and on Weis Library and other properties in the county," Gamble said. "But we want to build that out so that we have the information when someone 10 or 15 years from now wants to know more about the history of their home."
For more information, email Gamble at tgamble@eriehistory.org.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Find your home's history with help from Erie PA's Hagen History Center
