Are you curious about who lived in your home before you? It’s easy to look up your predecessors’ names and learn more about them.
Census (1950): The 1950 census was released in 2022. This was the first census to include Fairlington. To see who lived in your home in 1950, find your “Enumeration District” by consulting the map at the bottom of this page. Then, go to https://1950census.archives.gov/search/, choose “Virginia” from the dropdown menu, enter your enumeration district, and click the search button. When you click on the “Population Schedules” button you’ll be taken to a multi-page listing of everyone who lived in your area in 1950. The street and house numbers are in the leftmost columns. When you find your home, you ought to be able to see not only the names of the individuals who lived in your home, but their home states and occupations as well. You’ll need to read cursive, though.
Criss Cross Directories (1955-1976): The City of Fairfax Regional Library’s Virginia Room is in possession of a particularly valuable set of books called Criss Cross Directories, also known as Hill’s Arlington County Directory. It’s a phone book that you can look up by name in one section, and by home address in another section. First you do the latter, and then you do the former. Be sure to do both because the name lookup reveals additional information not available in the home lookup section - this typically includes an occupation and a spouse’s name.
Arlington Property Records (1970’s to present): Arlington has published property ownership records online going back to when Fairlington was converted to condominiums. Go to https://propertysearch.arlingtonva.us/Home/Search and enter your address. When you select your home, clicking on the “Sales” page will show property transactions going back to the 1990’s. If you click on the “Archives - Property Card” menu will show the records going back to the original owner buying your home from CBI-Fairmac, who performed the condo conversion.
We hope you enjoy learning about your home’s history! Find something interesting? Email us at [email protected].
