Many years ago when library card catalogs went electronic quite a few researchers were up in arms. Their concern was that many of the things you find or learn while researching are incidental. That is, when searching the card catalog for book X you accidentally come across book Y which provides a richer and more thorough research experience. Of course as has been seen, this argument was probably as much the voicing of the fear of a new technology as it was a lamenting for the loss of card catalogs.
Why do I mention card catalogs on a blog devoted to nirvana (East Nelson Avenue)? Because last night when Googling for something completely unrelated to our little patch of Earth I came across a part of the Alexandria Library’s website titled “The Tax Assessor’s Handiwork: Alexandria’s Historic Structures Online“. Even better is that the old tax records of East Nelson Avenue are on this page.
These records are not just dry, bland accounts of how much our houses were worth at various periods (in 1971 my house was worth a whopping $8,050!). They also include photos of our houses, who the owners were in 1971 and other information. I discovered that there was a fire in my house sometime in 1977 because $6,975 was spent to repair “FIRE DAMAGE”. It must have been a lot of damage because in 1977 my house (building only) was worth $27,900. They also must have done a pretty good job of repairs because with all the renovation I have done, I have yet to see any evidence of fire damage. Although this might explain the water marks on some of the beams in the basement…
Other things I learned include that my HVAC system was installed in 1977, the small addition on the back of my house was already there in 1971, and my living room was carpeted in 1971. Probably psychedelic shag carpet… it was the 1970’s after all. 
After discovering and studying these documents for a while I googled the former owners of my house (Earl W. and Edna E. Mans). There was only a single link which gave me more information on these two people – apparently Edna was Secretary of the Potomac Triumph Club in 1976 (you know, the British car that was small, fast and known for breaking down on a VERY regular basis). Now I want to go visit the library to learn more about the history of my house and Nirvana, er, East Nelson Avenue.
Perhaps you know something more about the history of our block? Or you know a former owner? It would be great to further document the history of East Nelson Avenue. (more…)