Washington County Government Gets Fancy

In case you haven’t visited in awhile, the Washington County government website has a redesign.  Perhaps I’m the last one to find out, but I was quite pleased with the new look. The site is well structured and the header area features rotating graphics of scenes from the area – very nice.  Hmm……..although I hope I’m not faced by a bear when I do get to visit one day.   😯

Now, of genealogical interest, I also learned that the Register of Deeds site has an online search for Deed records.  The site allows you to search deeds from 1996-present (UPDATE: the search covers June 1996 to present; older deeds back to 1974 can be viewed if you have the deed book number and page.  Check the Tax Property Records to locate the deed book and page number). You will need to download and register a special image viewer and must also use Internet Explorer.   Though the more recent deeds may not help you with your ancestors – capture them now to help your descendants in their future research.

Below is a screenshot of the searching options for the deeds.  You can search by last name/first name,  select grantor, grantee or both, specify a specific date or choose a date range of 1995 or later.  Currently, they do not have any deeds prior to 1995, but I wonder if they plan to add them since it is listed as an option on the search form.

Searching options

And here is an example of how the deed record displays in your browser window.  The navigation controls are easy to use to go back and forth between pages, and you can print the document as well.

example deed record

Thank you to the Register of Deeds office for allowing access to these records.  They will be a great help and we look forward to seeing what else may be added.