Transcript Robert Vernon Central Virginia History Researchers http://www.centralvirginiahistory.org/ email: [email protected] [email protected] County of Albemarle, Virginia Property Mapping Project - This work was begun about 1940 and finished in.

Robert Vernon
Central Virginia History Researchers
http://www.centralvirginiahistory.org/
email: [email protected]
[email protected]
County of Albemarle, Virginia
Property Mapping Project
- This work was begun about 1940 and
finished in 1943.
- It produced the first cadastral, or map of
property ownership, for Albemarle Co.
- In 2004 there were no records in the Real
Estate Office to reveal who had done the
work or why
- According to local surveyors, the work was
done by members of the Sims family, who
were surveyors in Albemarle from late 1800s
to the 1950s or ‘60s
- After extensive field and record research
they inked property lines on 1937 Dept. of
Agriculture aerial photos (recording race)
- They also filed plats, transcripts of deeds
and wills, lists of neighbors, and notes from
interviews as supporting documentation
- Perhaps as many as 10,000 records!
Aerial Photo Collection
- Steve Thompson and I photographed both
sides of 239 aerial photos in Nov 2004
- 106 images, about half of Albemarle Co.,
are currently available online to researchers
- This work was done in 2005 with software
purchased through a grant from UVA’s
Carter G. Woodson Institute
- I want to acknowledge the support of
Reginald Butler and Scot French
- Permission to place Real Estate Office
images and documents online was given by
Bruce Woodzell, then Assessor, and Andy
Herrick, a lawyer for Albemarle Co.
- images must be georegistered, an intensive
and time-consuming process that warps
images and defines spatial context
- rear of images list property owners and are
online and linked to each aerial photo
Zoom to Petersburg Community
- Shows a number of small parcels on the
south side of road under five acres.
- Includes a school lot that dates to 1903.
Rear of Petersburg Aerial Photo
- Lists land owners from image side
- Note African Americans are listed with
“(col)” after name
Rear of Petersburg Aerial Photo
- Note that most of the small lots reference
an “Insert”
- With the destruction of the history files,
documentation for owners of these parcels
no longer exists.
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Land Ownership by Race – 1942
Petersburg Community
Mouseover highlights
owner – Amanda White
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
- clicking on selected parcel with blue
identity button selected
- opens Identify Tab and shows a link to
the history file for this property
- click on HF link to open history file
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Flashpaper format, can scroll & zoom image
Race
Description of property:
- when acquired with deed reference
- acreage
Inheritance
Notes from interview:
Amanda White is dead was known as Belle
her dau Dora Belle White is teaching school
son – Will White Jr. is janitor St Anne School
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Inheritance
Description of property:
- purchased from J.W. Goss in 1887
chain of title
Notes from Land Tax Book:
- Amanda White appears for the first time
in 1925
- Dora Belle White dropped in 1925
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Plat with metes and bounds
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Abstract of 1887 deed
History Files in Interactive CVHR Map
Notes from interview:
Also 1A belongs to her brothers James &
Edgar Douglas
One is dead and the other disappeared
Adjacent land owners listed
Notes from interview:
Walter Ragland lives on the 1A given to Alice
Hawkins by his mother, Elizabeth Grady.
Information from Mrs. Roans
Conclusion: Significant Record Loss
 In Rivanna Dist., 56 of 1965 parcels on the aerial photos (or about 3%) reference
‘insert’ instead of owner. No source now exists to positively identify the owners of
these tracts.
 ‘Inserts’ are small parcels, so this loss of data will make it difficult to reconstruct
the residents of rural communities.
 A quick survey of 115 posted history files showed that about 85% had plats.
 Some plats show old cemeteries; 3 or 4 cemeteries were identified on plats in
near the Bypass route close to the Hydraulic Mills area
 Files contained family information from interviews that does not exist elsewhere
 Surveys were done before rapid development that followed WW II by local
surveyors who were intimately familiar with county land and residents
Conclusion: Significant Record Loss
 based on a count of taxed parcels in the 1942 Land Book, over 9,100 history files
were created during the Albemarle Mapping Project
 677 pages from 115 history files are posted on the interactive map, nearly 6
pages per parcel
 from this it is estimated that over 53,000 pages of historical documentation
were on file and were destroyed
 in 1937/38 Henrico Co. paid $24,360 to
map 264 sq. miles, about $325K in 2013$
 Albemarle Co is 726 sq. miles
 The value of the papers destroyed is
probably on the order of $500,000, or more
District
Charlottesville
Ivy
Rivanna
Samuel Miller
Scottsville
Scottsville Town
White Hall
ALBEMARLE TOTAL
White
955
435
1269
1168
1218
119
1442
Af-Am
319
164
753
289
790
6
216
TOTAL
1274
599
2022
1457
2008
125
1658
9143
Conclusion: Significant Record Loss
 The history files provided
spatial context in terms of who
were neighbors and temporal
context through listing chain of
title.
 Reconstructing these
relationships for the entire
county through courthouse
documentation means that
comprehensive community
studies that were feasible are
now impossible.