The Harris County Archives documents the government and citizens of Harris County through county records and donated materials.  Records containing information about properties can be found in both county records and manuscript collections. Maps, photographs, assessor’s records, housing rehabilitation client files, historical marker applications, and voting records contain information documenting property ownership and neighborhoods. Private donations to the archives complement the mission of the archives and include maps, subdivision plans, housing catalogs, abstracts of title, and photographs.

The major responsibility of the office includes the assessment, or calculation, of property value and collection of property taxes, or ad valorem taxes, for the county. The office may also enter into contract with other entities to collect their jurisdictions' taxes. These other entities may include schools, cities, and special districts. A reasonable fee may be levied by the tax assessor-collector for collecting taxes for another entity, but this fee cannot exceed the actual collection cost.

 

The county tax assessor-collector is the designated voter registrar. Voter registrar responsibilities include accepting applications for voter registration, issuing voter certificates, maintaining voter registration lists, verifying petitions for local option elections and submitting required reports to the Secretary of State's office.

 

Voting Records

96 volumes of poll tax records (1931 – 1965) – incomplete. Includes names, addresses, age, residency in Texas, Harris County, and precinct, occupation, place of birth, race (occasionally).  These records are useful in documenting neighborhoods.

Voting Records – 305 volumes (1966 – 1998). Registered voters by precinct.

 

Harris County Building and Land Valuation Cards

Mid 1920s-1980

The Harris County Building and Land Valuation Cards (BLAs) provide information about a property for tax valuation purposes. These often contain sketches of a building’s footprint, notes about add-ons and changes to a structure, and sometimes include photos.

Tax Rolls and Inventories

1858–1983

The tax roll for your home will list each person who owned your property, and the value of the property. Over the years, the value usually climbs at a steady pace. An abrupt increase often means that new construction occurred. The year your property became more valuable may be the year your house was built on a previously empty lot. Records of this nature range include real and personal property, minerals, banks, railroads, mobile homes.

Assessor Abstracts

1895-1914

7 volumes of Assessors Abstracts and 10 volumes of City Lots and Blocks for Houston and other cities in Harris County. Lists property owners, land, and valuation by year.

Block Books

1915-1997

Block Books continue the information available in the Assessor’s Abstracts with maps detailing locations of blocks and tract numbers. Original volume and page numbers still identify property unless it has been re-platted.  The archives has 640 volumes including special books for subdivisions and apartments from the 1970s. 

The manuscript collections are made up of private donations to the archives, as well as those from local organizations. They include maps, subdivision plans, housing catalogs, abstracts of title, and photographs.

Charles R. Brace Papers (1877–1975)

As a partner with E. L. Crain, Brace developed neighborhoods in Houston including Southside, Pineview, East Baytown, Oak Forest, Garden Oaks, and Timbergrove. His papers include maps, printed materials, newspaper clippings and legal records. Of particular interest are the Crain Read-built Home Catalogs. To read further about the collection, please see the finding aid.

Heritage Society Map Collection (1862–1960)

Over 110 maps, blueprints, and printed materials document land use in Houston and Harris County. Of significance are early plats of subdivisions. For details, please see the pathfinder, available here.

Houston Street Scenes Photograph Collection (1967)

Sixty-five color slide transparencies document properties in Houston in May and June 1967 with the East End comprising the bulk of the collection. Also included are slides of several maps of Houston and unidentified properties. The finding aid can be found here.

Abstracts of Title (1910–1958)

The Harris County Archives currently has 58 abstracts of title which trace land ownership from the Republic to when they were written. These are significant records since title companies no longer do this research. They are an excellent historical resource. For more information, please see the pathfinder. 

Frank Spata Map Collection (1906–1998)

Two plat books and twenty-two plat maps document the development of the city of Houston, Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Brazoria County, Texas. Of particular interest are the maps of the Fourth Ward prior to redevelopment in the late 1990s, Houston’s Freedman’s Town, and the downtown area of Houston. The finding aid can be found here.

StarTex Title Abstract Collection

Property records including 32 volumes of Block Books created by Texas Title and Abstract Company, 725 volumes of abstracts of title, and 15 order books dating from the mid-1920s document the history of land ownership in Harris County.

County Records

 

Harris County Community Development Records (1977 – 1995)

Of particular interest are the 10.5 cubic feet of client files documenting rehabilitation of individual homes and neighborhoods from 1984 – 1998.  Arranged by community and then by street, the files record the condition of the housing, work performed, and costs incurred through correspondence, reports, financial applications, and photographs. 

 

Harris County Historical Commission Marker Files (1962 – 2007)

Marker files include applications, research, photographs, invitations, and maps documenting historical buildings, places, and subjects in Harris County. 

 

Bond Certification Records (1894 – 1949)

10 cubic feet of records created by the Attorney General’s office in Texas verifying elections for bond issues.  These records can be useful in researching public buildings, works, and roads.