Looking up the permit granted when your house was built will provide you with the date of application (usually within a few weeks of the beginning of construction). It may offer information on the names of the owner, builder, and architect, the building dimension, type of construction and legal description of the property. Cost of construction may also be included, but may have been understated to keep the cost of the permit down.

Permit copies are available at the library of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) or in the city's Department of Buildings in City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. (go to RESOURCE CENTERS).

NOTE: The Department of Buildings will only have a permit if the building was built after the land it is on was annexed to the City of Chicago. The date of annexation are:

• Beverly - 1890
  
• Morgan Park and West Beverly - 1914
  
• Beverly Woods - 1930
  

For ease of access, we suggest that you first try the UIC library. However, if your house was built after June 1954, they will not have a copy of your permit and you must go to the Department of Buildings.

Regardless of where you do your research, looking up your permit is a two-stage process:

First
Look up your address (alphabetically by street name and then number)in the Address Index Card File. This will tell you in which ledger book your address can be found. The book number follows a bold faced N or W or S or C (depending on the section of the city), the number is also right before PAGE. The book number correlates approximately to the year of the permit. If a second address is noted on the index card, copy that one as well. This is the address used prior to street renumbering in 1909.

Second
Look up the building permit for your house in the appropriate ledger book as indicated on the address index card.