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Map of District of Columbia

District of Columbia land transactions that took place prior to 1792 are found among records for Prince George's and Montgomery counties, Maryland, and in Alexandria County, Virginia. Microfilm copies of Alexandria County, Virginia, deeds from 1783 to 1865 are available at the FHL, along with Maryland Circuit Court deeds for Prince George's County from 1696 to 1884 and Montgomery County from 1777 to 1863. It is also advisable to research the deeds of Fairfax County, Virginia, when other routes have proved unsuccessful. Deeds (or an index to them) from 1792 to the present are located at the Recorder of Deeds for Washington, DC. The earliest deeds (1792–1869) are at the National Archives, but a search of the index at the recorder's office will be helpful first. Those for the period 1792 to 1886 and accompanying index volumes have been microfilmed and are available through the FHL. Of interest to those tracing slave ancestors is the presence of manumission records among the deeds. Also see:
Gahn, Bessie Wilmarth. Original Patentees of Land at Washington Prior to 1700. 1836. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969. (Lists the earlier landowners a century before the District of Columbia was created.) Recorder of Deeds
515 D Street, NW
Washington DC 20001

Eastern States Office
Bureau of Land Management
7450 Boston Blvd.
Springfield, VA 22153
Tel: (703) 440-1600
FAX: (703) 440-1599

TThe Columbia Historical Society
1307 New Hampshire Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-2068

District of Columbia Vital Records Department
825 North Capitol Street NE
1st Floor, Room 1312
Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (202) 442-9009
(202) 783-1809 for credit card orders
Fax: (202) 783-0136