Wednesday, September 11, 2013

How could I learn about the history of my house?

1950 car info on ... of 20 vintage car advertisements from what looks like the 1950s
1950 car info image



Raeann


I live in an old house that dates back to before the 1920s. I'd like to try and learn about some of the people who have lived here. Maybe find out if anyone has died here. My dad tells me that apparently the state police used to rent out the attic way back when they still used horses, but he doesn't really know much other than that. I'm hoping to be able to find out some of this information online. So does anyone possibly know of a site I could look this up on?


Answer
Old house - 1920's - is NOT very old when it comes to houses, so there is not going to be a ton of information found.
It's possible only 2-3 families have ever lived there.

The "horse" thing is really throwing me off here.
By the 1920s only large cities utilized the "horse patrol" -- certainly NOT the State Police.
We had bullet proof cars with fast engines in the 20s.

And the State Police would be headquartered usually in a State Capital --- Do you live in your State Capital?

There ARE two reasons a State Police agency would use horses in the 1920s to present;

1 - It is a very old tradition for Police agencies to have a "Mounted State Police Unit", but NOT State Police.
There is only ONE - the Massachusetts State Police Mounted Unit.
Though I am thinking once upon a time there could have been more.
The Massachusetts Unit is kind of a club, these a pretty much show horses, they do some fancy "hoof" work, and look awesome all decked out in their fancy police gear.
If your home area WAS used in some part by a State Police Mounted Unit - the attic could have been used as a club meeting house and / or a place to store their fancy gear and uniforms.
[Mounted Police units DO have competitions]

2 - If you live in a Western state, a far Northern heavily wooded state, or a Rocky Mountain state --- state police agencies will occasionally STILL use Mounted Units --- for lost individuals and for a posse -- back in 1920 to 1950 they would have been used more due to the lack of navigable roads.
Maybe a past resident was an officer or US marshall involved in this sort of thing and maybe the attic and the house in general was used as a staging point and a place to store gear.

I cannot fathom any other possible reason the STATE would pay a civilian to rent his attic, of all things --- that was involved with horses.
A lot of this depends on where you live --- if you actually live in a city, one that is not a state capital, then it would not be the state police but a city police involvement instead.

But this info will give you some focus when you are trying to match up names with this unusual, yet very interesting arrangement.

Head online to your city / county government offices [it depends on the size of your city as to who controls this] --- locate your city / county records office and PLAT office - this will advise you of their procedure for getting this info, you'll probably have to fill out a form for request.
There are also many tax records available.
You'll be able to gather some names and some history of the area back in the 20s.

The PLAT office is a MUST - A plat is basically a map, showing the divisions of a piece of land --- from the very beginning -- as was it part of a farm, did it have a staple, how large the original property was, any underground water, who purchased it originally, who did he sell it to, topographic or vegetation information. City, town or village plats show subdivisions into blocks with streets and alleys as the neighborhood grew ---- you can usually get more info from a plat than records.
They also include any building permits and such --- so more names.
There might be something on that map that explains the horses.

Contact your state police headquarters and ask who handles your state police history as you are trying to ascertain whether your state had a "Mounted State Police" unit or any sort of mounted police between 1920 and 1950-- the unit historian will have the information you need, especially if you inform them that the state actually rented part of your property for its use with the horses ---- if it never had one, try your city police.

Your BEST information would actually come from someone who lives in your area. An elderly resident in their 80s would actually REMEMBER the people that lived in the house in the 1930s.
Ask around - if there is an elderly resident somewhere near your home, go up, introduce yourself and ask them who used to live in your house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mounted_police_units#United_States_of_America

Where can I find information on the invention of the car radio in 1920? Please Help!!!!!!!!!?




on cloud n


I am doing a one page paper in the invention of the car radio in the 1920's! I have searched google and a few other search engines. I really need to find this info so if you can help me that would be greatly appreciated! Thanx!


Answer
WILLIAM P. LEAR (1902 - 1978)

Audio, automotive and aircraft apparatus

Bill From the 1930s to the 1960s, William Powell Lear earned over 100 patents for groundbreaking electronic devices in three industries, including the first practical automobile radio, the airplane radio-compass and autopilot, and the eight-track tape player.

Born in Hannibal, Missouri in 1902, Lear attended public school in Chicago only through the eighth grade. During World War I, at age 16, he joined the Navy; after the War, he became a pilot. Here, Lear received the training that fueled a lifetime of invention in electronic technology.

At the age of 20, Lear founded Quincy Radio Laboratory, the first of his many companies. In the late 1920s Lear was contracted by Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago to assist Galvin engineers with a car radio design project. Later, a car radio patent was issued to Lear (U.S. patent 1,944,139). In 1930 Galvin Manufacturing introduced this car radio as the "Motorola." It was one of the first commercially successful car radios, and the first major product for the company that later became Motorola, Inc. Paul V. Galvin created the Motorola brand from "motor" (motorcar) + "ola" (sound).

Meanwhile, Lear turned his attention to airplanes. By the beginning of the Second World War, he had invented the first reliable aeronautical radio compass, as well as the "Learmatic Navigator"âan automatic pilot system, which kept planes on course by locking into whatever radio broadcasts the apparatus picked up.

During World War II, Lear's companies were a major source of the technology that helped make an Allied victory possible. Lear followed up his War effort by perfecting miniature autopilots for fighter jets, and by developing the first fully automatic landing system. This latter invention won Lear the FAA's Collier Trophy, bestowed on

No comments:

Post a Comment