District of Columbia Building Permits, 1877-1949, and Index, 1877-1958

Index by Square Number (1877 - 1958)
Index by Street Name (1912 - 1958)
Building Permits (1877 - Aug. 1884)
Title
District of Columbia Building Permits, 1877-1949, and Index, 1877-1958
Date Created
1877-01-01
Abstract
Microfilm of D.C. building permit indexes from 1877-1958 and building permits 1877-1884. Permits from 1885-1948 are accessible on microfilm in The People's Archive research center. Permits issued after 1949 are housed at D.C. Archives. If you are looking for a pre-1949 building permit of an existing building, search HistoryQuest DC for the address of the building to determine its permit number. If you are looking for a pre-1949 permit for a building that no longer exists, you must use the index provided here online.

Using the Building Permits Indexes
The Square Index covers permits issued 1877-1912 and the Street Index covers permits issued from 1912 to 1958. Because they cover different time periods you should use both indexes to do a thorough search. Note: The index covers more years than the actual permit collection, which stops in 1949.

Square Index
-Find the set of cards for your property's square
-Within that set, find all the cards matching your street name (be sure to look at entire set as there are usually multiple cards for a given street, not always in order)
-Scan the list on each card, looking for matching address and/or lot number (remember lot numbers can change - do map research to see if any old lot numbers were ever used)
-Reservations in Rolls 20 and 21 cover pre-1908 permits outside Washington City

Street Index
-Find the set of cards for your property's street name
-Within that set, find all the cards for your block (i.e. the 1700 block of Columbia Rd). These are grouped by even or odd numbers of the block.
-Scan the list on each card, looking for matching address and/or lot number
City
Washington, D.C.
Subject
Building permits
Rights Information
This collection is not in copyright.