United States Land and Property

Introduction The availability of land attracted many immigrants to America and encouraged westward expansion. Land ownership was generally recorded in an area as soon as settlers began to arrive. These important records sometimes exist when few other records are available. Land records are primarily used to learn where an individual lived and when he lived there. They often reveal other family information, such as the name of a spouse, heir, other relatives, or neighbors. You may learn where a person lived previously, his occupation, if he had served in the military, if he was a naturalized citizen, and other clues for further research Getting started with United States Land and Property research Getting started What's the next step? Finding your ancestor in the records Tips for beginners Did you know? "Property" refers to more than land. Records of slaves, livestock brands, stray animals, indentures, and loans can be found in records kept by many towns and counties. The person who obtains title to land from the government receives a land grant. Subsequent exchanges of land are person-to-person exchanges involving deeds. States Federal Land States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado District of Columbia Florida Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon South Dakota Utah Washington Wisconsin Wyoming Federal land states (blue) & state land states (brown) State Land States Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hamsphire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia United States   Research Tools (Your text or images here) (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers) (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.) Help Wanted (or other title) (For example, help wanted list of activities for your users) (Additional Heading) (Your text or images here) (Additional Heading) (Your text or images here, or use the table below:) (Your Bullet) (Your Bullet) (Your Bullet) (Your Bullet) (Your Bullet) (Your Bullet) (All text below this is included in a column on the left side of the screen.) News (Your Bullets here) more... Topics (Your Bullets here) (Title) (Your Bullets here)