“I’d like to learn more about the history of this Property…”
Researching a place is very much like researching a person, and deeds are like birth certificates for dirt. So just as with genealogy, to trace the pedigree of a property, start with now and work backwards. If you already have a deed for the property of interest, you can track its evolution on the county’s Registry of Deeds.
Hancock County Deeds have been digitized and are searchable by name, Book/Page, or date, and are available free online. Page and often Book reference numbers generally appear at the top of all deeds (even the handwritten ones from the 1800’s). And the preceding deed’s Book/Page will be referenced within the text. It’s a connect-the-dots process to work backwards, tracing ownership, subdivisions, rights of way, etc.
If you do not already have a deed as a starting place, but know the current owner’s name or the location of the property, you can find the current deed reference using the Tax Maps or Commitment Books on the Town website.
Browse through the Tax Maps (it may help to start with the INDEX map to narrow down the location) to find the property you are interested in and note the Page and Lot number of the parcel(s). Then look through the Tax map & Lot book to find that parcel. At the bottom left corner of each listing, there will be a number that looks something like BxxxxPnnn. That is the Book/Page reference for the current deed. The Commitment Book is organized alphabetically by current owner’s last name and contains the same B/P number at the lower left of each entry.
The origins of buildings in rural communities are much trickier, because their details are not usually included in old deeds. Tax Valuation Books (see description below) offer clues to when a building is added to a property because buildings are valued separately from land and you can see when the valuation jumps up by tracking from one year to the next.
Old photos are another way to narrow the time window on buildings. GHS’s photo collections are being digitized and made available in our Archive Without Walls. We are including as much information as we have in the catalogue entries, including the date if we know it.
Keep in mind…
Hancock County was established in 1789. Before that, the territory was part of Lincoln County. Lincoln County deeds from 1761 are online, see references below.
Town Records for Gouldsboro begin in 1790 and were the responsibility of the Town Clerk. Initially, Vital records (Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Marriage intentions), tax and voter rolls, election results, and descriptions/accounts of all other Town business were recorded in the same volume, chronologically. Over time, record keeping became more sophisticated and separate books were maintained for specific purposes (for example Tax valuations were entered in separate annual ledgers beginning in 1868).
Tax Valuation Books (1868 – 1955). These are annual tax and voter rolls for the Town, available for public view at the Blance Archive. They include detailed ownership information about real property, buildings, boats, vehicles, domestic animals, and personal property. They provide important clues to events like when a house is added to a property, changes in ownership and absentee owners. Pre-1868 Tax Valuations are incorporated chronologically in the Gouldsboro Town Records, Volumes, 1 and 2.
In 1895, Winter Harbor split from Gouldsboro and became a separate town. So most 19thC documentation of Winter Harbor property was recorded in Gouldsboro. This includes Town Records, tax records, and Vital records.
Sources with content specific to Gouldsboro
- Tax Maps or Commitment Books on the Town website (near the bottom of the page)
- Hancock County Deeds
- Winter Harbor Historical Society – WHHS also has a Museum and a Facebook page and a large collection of old photographs
Sources pertaining to Maine (places and people)
- Digital Archive for information from the entire Acadian region
- Penobscot Marine Museum Photo Collections
- Eastern Illustrating Post Card Collection
- Maine State Library
- Digital Maine Transcription Project
- Interactive Map of Maine County Formation
- Lincoln County, Maine deed search
- Maine Genealogical Society
- Maine Historical Society
- Spirits Alive Lectures