San Anselmo has many historic homes. While some date from before 1900, most were built after the 1906 earthquake when many San Francisco residents made San Anselmo their permanent residence. From a population of 160 residents in 1900, the town grew to a population of 1,500 by 1910.

With the 100 year anniversary of the quake in 2006 and the centennial celebration of San Anselmo’s incorporation in 2007, many San Anselmo homes will also turn 100. This is a relatively short history and homeowners should be able to discover something about their homes in the many sources available.

While a few of San Anselmo’s older homes were designed by notable architects (Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, Ernest Coxhead, Maxwell Bugbee) and others by architects who lived in San Anselmo (Harris Osborn and W. Garden Mitchell), most were built by local developers/contractors without architects’ plans.

Here are some tips and resources in San Anselmo and Marin that will help in the research effort.

First, learn as much as you can from your neighbors, longtime San Anselmo residents, or previous owners. Long-timers in the neighborhood or town often knew the original owners or their descendants. Make note of any stories they tell you as there may be some truth in them that will help in your research. For example, you may be told that your home was once owned by the mayor, the fire chief, the postmaster, or a local merchant, and that information may help you later when you are looking at other records.

Learn as much as you can about the history and development of San Anselmo. Barry Spitz’s book, San Anselmo, A Pictorial History is an invaluable resource on the growth and development of town. It includes a chapter on "Subdivisions," providing, in some cases, an indication of the dates in which lots in areas of town were first sold. Most subdivisions in San Anselmo involved lot sales, not pre-built homes. The book, published in 2003, is available at the San Anselmo Historical Museum as well as in the local bookstores.

You will then want to explore some of the following resources to uncover facts about your home and its earlier owners.

Assessor's Parcel Maps
Determine your parcel number from your property tax bill and locate your home on a current parcel map. This will give you the legal description of the property. The Marin County Assessor – Recorder maintains a set of maps for assessment purposes delineating every parcel of land in the County.

 

These parcel maps serve as the basis for the assessment of all real property in Marin County. The maps are continuously updated to reflect new subdivisions and surveys. These parcel maps, as well as subdivision maps, are available for review in room 232 at the Civic Center on computer workstations. Copies may be purchased in the Mapping Section (room 232). The parcel maps can also be viewed online at the Recorder's website.

Title Search Materials: Grantor-Grantee Index, Deeds and Official Records
These are the county's official documents pertaining to property, and can be found in the Marin County Recorder's Office (room 232). The records are on microfilm and are available to the public during office hours.

You use these records to do a title search of the property going back in time to establish a chain of ownership. The Grantor-Grantee Index provides the book and page reference to the deed or other official document. In Marin, the index and deeds go back to 1852. For the period 1852 to December 31, 1973, the index is on microfilm. Some of the early microfilm records are badly faded and are impossible to read. From January 1974 on, the Grantor-Grantee Index is computerized and may be searched on computer workstations in Room 232 or by using the Grantor-Grantee Index online. The deeds and official records are all on microfilm; copies may be purchased for $2.00 ($1.00 if self-service) per page.

If your property has had a number of owners, it can be a labor-intensive project to establish a chain of ownership. If you are lucky, you may be only the third or fourth owner and the task will be far easier.

It is important to remember that a deed conveys ownership of the property and describes it terms of boundaries, but does not indicate whether the property includes improvements such as a house nor does it tell you who actually lived there.

Property descriptions generally refer back to the original subdivision lot (e.g. “A portion of Lot 16 as designated and delineated on the map entitled “Map No. 2 of the Lands of Mrs. Wm Barber, Ross Valley, Cal, July 1904” or “Lot 14 Block 13 as said lot and block are delineated and as shown upon that certain map entitled Map No. 2, Sunnyside Tract, San Anselmo Valley filed May 11, 1892.”).

Real Estate Research Papers and Documents
The San Anselmo Historical Museum has a number of items that may provide a short cut to the title search process.

• A parcel map from the San Anselmo Planning Department shows owners in the 1935 -1948 time period for some areas of town, in particular those areas closest to the downtown.
  
  
• In 1987 an attempt was made by the San Anselmo Historical Commission to conduct an inventory of historic buildings which illustrate the development of the community and serve as links to its past. Information sheets were prepared on many homes and buildings in older sections of town. These sheets provide the owner in 1987, a photograph of the structure as it appeared then, a description of the historical or architectural importance of the structure, estimated or actual construction date, and in some cases the name of the original owner and a history of the structure.
  
  
• Barber Tract was subdivided in 1904 and extensive work has been done by the San Anselmo Historical Commission to document the early transfers of property ownership in this area. If you are searching for information on your Barber Tract home, the Museum will likely have information for you.
  
  
• The Museum also has scrapbooks of news articles from the San Anselmo Herald. These include some Building Inspector Reports listing permits issued in the 1927 to 1931 time period.
  

Census Records
The U.S. Federal Census was first conducted in 1790 and then every tens years thereafter. These censuses have become an invaluable source of information for genealogists and others. Census records are released to the public once they are seventy years old. The 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, but all others from 1790 to 1930 are available. They are arranged by state and county and the information contained in them varies by census year. Starting in 1850 each resident in the household is listed. For the years 1910, 1920, and 1930 information is recorded for each person including age, relationship to the head of household, place of birth, place of birth of parents, and occupation. In many cases the street name is shown or can be surmised.

The San Anselmo Historical Museum has copies of the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census for Marin County on CD-ROM. They may be viewed on the computer in the Museum. Unfortunately the records are not indexed, so you will need to page through the images looking for your street. In 1910 the streets are identified but there are no house numbers. In 1920 house numbers were added but it wasn’t until 1930 that they seem to correspond to the current numbers.

The Civic Center Branch of the Marin County Free Library has the Marin census records on microfilm. No indices are available.

The California State Sutro Library, near Stonestown in San Francisco, and the National Archives in San Bruno have census records for the entire United States on microfilm along with indices. Census images are also available through online subscription services such as Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and can be ordered on CD-ROM from HeritageQuest.com for $19.95 per county per year.

City Directories
The Anne T. Kent California History Room at the Civic Center Branch of the Marin County Free Library has a collection of Marin Directories for the following years: 1905, 1925, 1939, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1957, and then most up to the current directory. Some of the early ones, published by Polk’s, include reverse directories so it is possible to look up the street and address and get the resident’s name.

Marin County GenWeb Project and Ancestry.com

Two Marin County genealogical websites are online resources to explore. Members of the Marin County Genealogical Society have posted a wealth of information, including obituaries and real estate transfers, to the Marin GenWeb Project and to the Marin Message Board at Ancestry.com.
 

We hope you will have success in finding information on your home. Please donate a copy of your research to San Anselmo Historical Museum!
 

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