Most of the data presented on this website was gathered using the following method.

 

Newspaper archives such as newspapers.com, fultonhistory.com, and nyshistoricalnewspapers.org were searched using a series of key words that were commonly associated with segregated subdivisions (i.e. "restricted neighborhood," "whites only," and "undesirable neighbors").  More often than not, these searches found advertisements for building lots in newly subdivided neighborhoods, from which can be gleaned information such as names of the subdivisions, names of developers and real estate agents, location information including street names, driving directions, and nearby landmarks, and direct or coded references to the use of racial covenants.  Newspapers articles and legal notices can also provide useful data.

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Street names and individual parcels of land can be identified on regrid.com, and Beacon, a web-based assessment and tax data reporting tool, were helpful for locating the names of current property owners.  Title searches using the current property owners' names were then conducted using IQS in those counties where free public access to digitized real property records is available.  However, online access to digitized real property records varies by county, often making it necessary to visit the county clerk's office in each county's seat to conduct manual title searches, view plat maps, and review relevant corporate filings such as declarations of restrictions.

 

© JUNE 2026