There are hundreds of historic houses in Sandwich, and documenting these homes is the first step toward preserving them. Saving historic homes is vital for maintaining our town’s cultural identify, fostering community pride, and providing a tangible link to the past that textbooks cannot provide. These structures also offer significant economic benefits through tourism and revitalization, while also promoting sustainability by reducing waste and preserving durable, high-quality building materials.

If you own a historic home, please consider obtaining a historic marker to commemorate its remarkable history. If you don’t have time to do the research required to obtain a marker, the Historical Commission will do it for you — in fact, most people choose this option.

But if you like detective work and feel motivated to give it a try, the remainder of this article will help you get started.

Your Holy Grail is finding your home’s first owner and the date the house was built. But even more interesting is what you’ll learn along the way about those who lived, quite literally, under your roof — it brings them to life.

1. Become familiar with MACRIS

The Massachusetts Historical Commission maintains a database of “cultural assets” that includes historic buildings as well as historic districts, landscapes and landmarks. This public database is called the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, better known by its acronym MACRIS.

The information that goes into MACRIS comes from local historical commissions across Massachusetts. For more information on MACRIS, as well as the Sandwich Historical Commission’s work with MACRIS, read Town Archivist Jen Ratliff’s informative article here. Also, take a look at these two MACRIS files for 6 Grove Street and 166 Main Street — they’ll give you a better feel for the type of information you will find in MACRIS.

2. Put MACRIS to work

You don’t want to reinvent the wheel, so first find out if your house is in MACRIS and, if so, what information is available.

Once you open MACRIS, scroll to the bottom and accept the terms and conditions. The main page will then open. On the left side you will see a variety of search options. We recommend that you enter Sandwich in the “city/town” box (as you start to type Sandwich, a popup with “SDW: Sandwich” will appear—click that), click “Apply,” enter your street number and name in “Refine by Address,” and then once again click “Apply.”

You should now see one or more search results. Note that each property and historic area in MACRIS is assigned an MHC ID beginning with three letters that represent the name of the town — for Sandwich it is “SDW.”

In the INV column it is likely there will be a .pdf symbol (circled above), which means the property was inventoried—a good thing! Download the file to find what has already been documented. The amount of detail varies widely.

You can also explore MACRIS by Historic Area. Use the list of Sandwich’s 25 Historic Areas, also know as districts, to find which one you live in. Then enter the MHC ID in the designated search box. Again, your search result will include a .pdf attachment that provides information regarding your particular neighborhood.

You can also use the MACRIS Maps page to obtain information. As described by Sandwich archivist Jen Ratliff, “This tool is especially valuable when records for a specific property are incomplete or missing, as it enables users to explore neighboring parcels that may have once been part of the same property….”

3. Visit the Sandwich Town Archives

The Sandwich Town Archives are filled with information that can help you research your historic home. An overview of the materials available and a guide to visiting the Archives is available here. The Archives are located within the Sandwich Public Library at 142 Main Street.

Here are a few pointers for researching your historic home with information available in the Archives.

• Property Asset Files are a good place to start your house history search. There is a folder for each historic property that typically documents the location, physical appearance, condition, some history, and a photograph of the property. These files are the basis for the information available digitally through MACRIS but often there is additional information in the hard copy files.
• Family Files may be helpful if you know an early homeowner’s name. For example, if you know a house was owned by Jane Smith, you could request the Smith file to see what is on file about Jane and, perhaps, her house.
• There are several particularly good maps that list the names of owners from days gone by, including the Walling maps for 1857 and 1858 as well as the Sandwich pages from Walker’s 1880 Atlas of Barnstable County. These maps are also available on our website here.
• Tax records from the Office of the Assessor can often be a great help in researching who owned a home and when. Records are available for the periods 1783-1860 and 1903-1945, but be aware that there are some gaps.
• Census records can also be helpful if you’re researching by name. Only the names of the “head of household” are available in the censuses for 1820, 1830, and 1840; all family members are listed in the censuses for 1850, 1855, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910. Many census records are also available online through ancestry.com and other genealogy sites.
• Books about the region’s history can also be helpful. One standout resource is local historian Russell Lovell’s Sandwich, A Cape Cod Town. There you may find information about the early inhabitants of your home as well as bits of history that may have taken place in your neighborhood—even on your street. Other worthwhile books about Sandwich include:

• • • Barlow, Raymond E. & Kaiser, Joan E., The Glass Industry in Sandwich, Vol. 1-5. Windham, NH: Kaiser Publishing Company, Inc., 1989-1993.
    • Cullity, Rosanna & Cullity, John Nye, A Sandwich Album, Sandwich, MA: The Nye Family of America Association, Inc., 1987.
    • Vuilleumier, Marion R., Scenes of America Sandwich Cape Cod’s Oldest Town. Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.

4. Area Churches Also Have Archives

Church records can be helpful if you’re interested in researching the families that formerly lived in your historic home. Contact the church office for information on how to access their records. Indexes of each church’s records are also available in the Sandwich Town Archives.

First Church Sandwich, UCC – Their historical records are the most extensive and cover 1730-1975,  and include the records of the Calvinistic Congregational Society, Pilgrim Church, Sandwich Federated Church, Methodist Episcopal Church, Congregational Church, Unitarian Congregation, First Parish Church, and the First Church of Christ. Examples include records of baptisms, weddings, funerals, members, and church histories.

Corpus Christi Parish – Historical records date from 1845 and consist of marriages, deaths, baptisms, confirmations and first communions. They also have an incomplete cemetery register and a copy of a cemetery book from 1890.

St. John’s Episcopal Church – Historical records run from 1854-1968 and include annual meetings, membership, marriage, baptisms and deaths. They also have correspondence, receipts and deeds pertaining to the building and its construction in 1899.

5. The Registry of Deeds

Using the Registry of Deeds to research the age of a house is essential. Registries often contain records dating back hundreds of years, which is crucial for identifying the history of older homes. Deeds provide an official, chronological paper trail of property ownership.

Deeds can also contain crucial clues that indicate when a house was first constructed or modified. For example, a sharp increase in the sale price between two deeds often indicates that a house was built on the land. Older deeds may also mention buildings, barns, or new structures in their property descriptions.

Sandwich deeds are filed with the Barnstable Country Registry of Deeds located in the Barnstable County Complex at 3195 Main Street in the town of Barnstable. Although a trip to the Registry is sometimes needed, today the majority of deed research can be done online by accessing the Registry’s free Public Access Website. 

Unfortunately, the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds suffered a devastating fire in 1827 and 93 of 94 volumes of early land records were destroyed. The one remaining volume contains records going back to 1806. Despite this, researching by deed is still invaluable. 

Here are a few hints for researching deeds:

• Work backward: Start with your current deed and look for the previous book and page number, repeating this process to trace ownership back in time.
• Take advantage of search options: Search by owner names, not addresses, as address-based searches are generally not available for older deeds.
• Check probate records: If the property was transferred through a will rather than a sale, you may need to check probate records. Information on how to access historic probate records in Massachusetts is available here.

6. Town Assessor’s Database

All Sandwich properties are included in the Town of Sandwich Assessor’s Database which is online and available to the public. It includes detailed information such as the build date, a description of the property, the owner, a photograph, valuation, and so forth. Searches can be done by address or the owner’s name. Sometimes the Assessor’s Office has additional hard-copy files which can be helpful. One thing to keep in mind is that the build date recorded for a historic home is not always accurate—it may be a guess or, if major work was done on the house, the more recent date may wind up as the build date. This is why deeds are generally the most reliable sources of information.