Came across an article by Catherine Allen from the July/August 1981 edition of Mother Earth News about the practice of “House Logs”, a genealogy of homes.
You may be surprised to know that you can make history . . . at no risk to life and limb and without even venturing beyond your own front door! Now as you’ve probably guessed, I’m not talking about performing any feats of derring-do or overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. instead, I’m suggesting that you take the time to research—and preserve—the story of your own dwelling . . . and thus add your bit to the recorded history of your region and family!
Choose a house-log cover that’s both attractive and durable..and stock the body of the book with planty of photographs.
The practice of writing down a home’s “genealogy”—in the form of a house log—has long been a custom in many parts of Europe. In North America, however, interest in keeping such records has only recently begun to spread . . . thanks (at least here in Canada) to the efforts of the Women’s Institutes scattered across the land.
You can find the full article at the link above. Even though it’s over twenty years old, still a very interesting article. I live in a house built by twin brothers around 70 years ago who worked on the railroad (the line used to run about two blocks from our house). We know very little other than that. The article gets into the research and putting together mini-biographies of those who have lived in the house.