Guides: Philadelphia Neighborhoods Research: URBS 210/ URBS 206: Data & Documents

Data Sources

Social Explorer
Tract-level data, 1940 to the present. For earlier years, data are available by county and state.

PolicyMap

DOR Parcel Explorer
Access to property ownership history in Philadelphia.
Culture Blocks
Information about arts & culture nonprofits and businesses by geography. Also includes event permits and demographic and land use data.
City of Philadelphia Map Browser
Integrated web map that displays permits, licenses, and violations for businesses, construction, rentals, vacancies, demolitions, and zoning.

City Documents and Reports

Philadelphia Neighborhoods Project Collection (University of Pennsylvania)
83 neighborhood planning surveys prepared and published by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission between 1946 and 1990. These reports contain descriptions of current conditions of housing stock; population trends; property turnover; public transportation; community activity. Recommendations are made for future action.
Philadelphia Research Initiative
Data and research reports on Philadelphia from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

How to Find Property Ownership History

Philadelphia's property records are available back to the 1700s through several databases, free and licensed to the Penn Libraries.

Registry Number (Parcel Map Identifier)

The fundamental piece of information you will need to trace property deeds is your property's Registry Number - also called the Parcel Map Identifier. This identifier has two parts : a Recording Map identifier (number+direction, e.g., 031S, 157N) followed by a Parcel number.

Department of Records Property Parcels (Open Data Philly)
In this dataset, the BASEREG and MAPREG variables show the Registry Number for all current Philadelphia properties. The dataset is available as a CSV file and as a shapefile.

Searching current deeds and property records (1973-present)

Philadelphia Land Records (PhilaDox) / Philadelphia Department of Records
Licensed for current Penn students, faculty, and staff only. PhilaDox's "Address search" permits searching by street address and also by Registry Number (as "Parcel #"). Deeds will often cite prior deeds by Deed Book and Page number, searchable through "Basic search".

Searching property ownership (mid-1800s to mid-1900s)

Philadelphia Land Records (PhilaDox) / Philadelphia Department of Records
Licensed for current Penn students, faculty, and staff only. Page-image deed registers may be browsed through PhilaDox's "New Historical Index" (linked from the website's top menu bar). Using the Historical Index to identify a deed requires two steps:

Reg. Plans. These registers trace parcel ownership, listing consecutive owners and transfer dates - these are necessary for the second step. These PDF pages are arranged by Recording Map identifier. Each line on a PDF page represents a Parcel number. Parcel numbers may carry over to additional pages : look for the Parcel numbers in their appropriate rows! NOTE : If all you need is a list of past property owners and transfer dates, you're done!
Grantee / Grantor. These registers provide the Recorder of Deeds' initials, Deed Date, Deed Book, and Deed Page for each historic deed - these are necessary for retrieving a historic deed. Grantors sell the property, Grantees buy the property. Start by browsing one of these volume menus by date. Then choose the initials (Last name first letter, First name first letter - watch out for how PhilaDox handles very common names!) to open a multi-page PDF file.

Historical Land Records and Vitals / Philadelphia Department of Records
This database provides page-image deeds covering 1683 to 1974. It is searchable by Recorder of Deeds' initials, Deed Date, Deed Book, and Deed Page