Everything we can look for
A report can look into 68 kinds of records about a piece of land. The basic report covers 26 of them; you can add any of the others after it is made, from “Look deeper into this” or the report’s appendix.
Written documents
Survey notes, land patents, deeds, tax rolls, census pages, newspapers and county histories.
The county's description of this land
Legal description, tax lots, assessed acreage.
In the basic report
Other recorded rights to cross or use this land
Recorded easements, roads, rights of way.
Conservation easements and special tax programs
Conservation easements, forest deferral, special assessments.
Modern surveys of this land
Modern surveys and corner records.
Sale prices and assessed values
Sales history and values.
The zoning rules for this land
Zoning and land-use rules.
Rights to use water
Water rights, including canceled.
What the first surveyors wrote about this ground
Original field notes.
In the basic report
The trees at the corners in the 1850s
In the basic report
Settlers' donation land claims
Donation land claims.
In the basic report
The first owners from the government
In the basic report
The first owner's land entry papers
Land entry files.
School land
In the basic report
Railroad and wagon-road grants
Railroad and wagon-road grants; the 1916 return of the Oregon and California grant lands.
Owners since the first patent
Earlier taxpayers
Old assessment rolls and tax lists.
The buildings and their history
Historic buildings and house history.
Building, septic and well permits
Permits, septic, well and building records.
Households in the census, through 1950
Census households through 1950.
In the basic report
Births, deaths, marriages and estates
Births, deaths, marriages, estates.
Nearby cemeteries and burials
Cemeteries and burials.
What the newspapers said
Newspapers.
In the basic report
What the old county histories say
County histories and biographies.
Where the names of creeks, hills and roads came from
Place names.
In the basic report
The nearest school, post office, church and grange
Schools, post offices, churches, granges.
In the basic report
Local historical societies and museums
Historical society and museum collections.
When the roads were built and paved
Roads and highways.
In the basic report
Railroads and logging railroads
Railroads and logging railroads.
In the basic report
Mills, logging camps and other industry
Mills, logging and industry nearby.
When electricity, telephone and mail arrived
Electricity, telephone, mail routes.
Images
Survey plats, old maps, air photos from the 1930s on, and pictures from space.
Where this land sits on the survey grid
Township, range, section, meridian; claim or lot.
In the basic report
The first survey map
Original township plats.
In the basic report
Names on the old ownership maps
Metsker ownership atlases.
The old topographic maps
Topographic map editions.
In the basic report
Other old maps
Other historic maps.
Old air photos
In the basic report
The land from the air today
Recent air photos and satellite pictures.
In the basic report
Fire insurance maps of town buildings
Sanborn fire insurance maps of towns.
Old photographs in public collections
Photographs in public collections.
The forest of 1914 and the 1930s
Forest-type maps, 1914 and 1930s.
Recent tree cutting and regrowth
Recent harvests and tree-cover change.
Changes in land use since 1985
Land use by year since 1985.
In the basic report
The bare ground under the trees
Lidar (laser-measured) maps of the bare ground.
The land itself
Rock, soil, water, weather, plants, fire, the first people, and what you can see on the ground.
The rock under this land
Geology and landforms.
In the basic report
The soils and what they are good for
Soils by acre with ratings.
In the basic report
Height, slope and the way the land faces
Elevation, slope, aspect.
In the basic report
Rain, warmth and cold
Rain and temperature since 1895.
In the basic report
Storms, floods, freezes and droughts
Storms, floods, freezes, droughts by date.
Streams, springs and wetlands
Streams, springs, wetlands.
In the basic report
Creek flows and the biggest floods
In the basic report
Wells and how deep they go
Mapped flood zones
Flood zones.
Landslide, earthquake and wildfire hazard maps
Landslides, earthquake, wildfire risk.
Mines and quarries
Mines, quarries, prospects.
Cleanup and contamination sites nearby
Cleanup and contamination sites.
Plants recorded near here
Plants recorded nearby, oldest first.
What grew here before settlement
In the basic report
Fires on this land
Fire history.
Wildlife, then and now
Wildlife, then and now.
Crops and livestock
Crops and farming.
The people who lived here before the surveyors
Native peoples: treaty, tribes today, regional history.
In the basic report
Old sites and artifacts: the law, and whom to call
Archaeology: background, the law, and whom to call.
Native place names and trails
Native place names and trails.
What you can still find by walking the land
The walk: corners, house sites, old trees, repeat photos.
Living memory
What people remember, and what families keep.
Memories already recorded
Oral histories already recorded.
What earlier owners and neighbors remember
Interviews with earlier owners and neighbors.
Your family's photographs and papers
Family photographs and papers.
Your own records
The owner's own records.