How to Find Out Who Lived in My House in the 1940s

1. Use an Enumeration District (ED) Finder

Census records are not indexed by address in the way a modern database works; they are organized by "Enumeration Districts"—the specific geographic area assigned to one census taker.

• The Strategy: Use an online ED Map Finder tool. Input your current street address, and the tool will provide you with the specific 1940 ED number for your neighborhood.

• The Proof: Once you have the ED number (e.g., 55-12), you can go to our census database, select that specific ED, and view the digitized images of the census pages for every house on your street in 1940.

2. Navigate via City Directories

If you are unsure if your house was even built or occupied in 1940, city directories are your best friend.

• The Strategy: Look for a city directory from 1939, 1940, or 1941. Most directories have a "Street Guide" section in the back.

• The Proof: This section lists every street in alphabetical order and every house number numerically. You can look up your street, find your house number, and see the name of the head of the household listed directly next to it, confirming exactly who was living there during the census year.

3. Search by Neighboring Households

Sometimes the indexing for your specific house was missed, or the house number was recorded as a different street entirely.

• The Strategy: Browse the census page for your house and look at the names of the families on either side of yours.

• The Proof: If you find the neighbors, you have found the street. You can then look at the house descriptions recorded by the census taker to identify which family occupied your specific home, even if the address was slightly misidentified in the digital index.

4. Cross-Reference with Property Tax Records

Every county kept annual property tax records, which are often much more accurate than federal census records regarding building status.

• The Strategy: Visit the county recorder’s office or browse our Land, Court & Legal Archives to look for tax assessment rolls from 1940.

• The Proof: Tax rolls list property owners by address or lot number. This will confirm if your house was on the tax rolls in 1940 and who was paying the taxes, allowing you to match the owner’s name directly to the census records.

5. Consult Local Historical Society Records

If you are struggling to bridge the gap between address numbers and census names, local historical societies often have "Plat Maps" (land ownership maps) from the 1940s.

• The Strategy: Request a copy of a 1940s neighborhood plat map from your local library or historical society.

• The Proof: Plat maps visually display lot numbers and owner names. Matching your lot number to the names on a 1940 plat map acts as a "key" that unlocks the census pages, ensuring you are looking at the correct family who called your house "home."