If walls could talk ...

Ever since discovering the first Young Reader book about the history of Egypt I've been hooked on history. I'm a history nut geeking out over archeology, old books, books about old stuff, barely legible documents and ancient tomes, recipes and patterns, and more. I'm even a member of a group that recreates the Middle Ages and dabble in calligraphy and illumination, medieval cooking and other assorted medieval crafts.

It wasn't really a long step from that to trying to learn more about the house we're about to make ours in just 19 more days! *keeps fingers crossed*

Fortunately and much to my delight, the main branch of the local library houses a treasure trove of resources for the genealogist and Florida history lover. Up underneath the roof in the Grand Map room is where I can be found when the munchkin participates in one of the awesome kids' programs. For about an hour I get to browse the old city directories for glimpses into our house's past. I have yet to swing by the property appraiser's office to track down the actual past owners but so far I've had too much fun digging around in the old city directories for information on who lived in the Ugly Duckling over the past 95 years.

From what I've gathered so far, our house appears to have been a kind of modest starter home: Few occupants stayed longer than 2 years at a time and most held rather modest Middle-Class jobs. Hubby, of course, is tickled pink that the first ever occupant's name is "Mead". How befitting for a hobby brewer to soon be living in "The Mead House" ... heh.

I've added the Ugly Duckling's genealogy as a separate page to the top navi bar - I'll update it as my research comes along. We're planning on ducking into the library again this afternoon so I might have more to post tomorrow or Friday!
Enjoy!

Update:
Well, so I couldn't wait :o) I added a few more years to our house's genealogy of occupants. I also got the library clerk to show me to the Sanford maps and the prospect of finding a map with our house has me giddy with geeky excitement. Next time I'll bring the camera. Promise!