MDLANDrec.net - Find your house history or family lands from home

Maryland land records online (deeds, morgages) allow you to trace back owners of your house or other historic buildings from home. Howard County separated from Anne Arundel County in 1840, so for earlier searches, use AA indices. The MDLAND site is also convenient for geneaology, to find your ancestor(s) home and other properties they may have owned. How to navigate MDLANDrec.net is explained with photos of each page, below.

Catalog kit houses ("Sears Homes") - online resources

Ready cut houses - where all the lumber was pre cut, then sent by train with everything needed to build a house. The first was Aladdin in 1906, then Sears, and today 'Sears House' has become the common term for all kit homes. Several good virtual talks have been taped, links below. Also links to catalogs (then used to pick a house, now to match an existing home) and information on some major companies, such as where their papers are archived. Images of similar styled homes with floor plan, for each company...

When a Sears House is not a Sears house

A local street is named for the Sears mail order kit houses: Sears House Court, Ellicott City. But, the 1921 house was actually by Gordon Van Tine Co. of Iowa. The wood was precut for every part of the house and numbered. Then the 'kit' was sent by train to be assembled by owner or local craftsman. More on the Sears House Court house (pictured); a small 2-family bungalow in EC, and some ways to detect if a house you've seen or own is a true kit house.