Evening star., 1937-06-19
INDEX PREPARED
OF LAND RECORDS
W. P. A. Workers. Compiling
Information on District
Property.

To enable the public to obtain in
few minutes information regarding
property in the District OF Columbia
that formerly required days and some
times weeks to find, complete up-to-
date system Of indexing the land rec
ords IS being installed by w. P. A.
workers at the of11ce Of the Recorder
OF Deeds.
Up to the last decade, there was no
uniform system Of indexing, and the
100-year-old files prove 50 unreliable
and impracticable that many property
owners were forced to 60 to private
title companies for information con-
corning their holdings. The need for
new filing system that would be
simple, inexpensive and reliable has
been felt for many years.
The new system comprises q scien-
tific and concise, yet simplified compil-
alton Of facts concerning each deed
nled in the office, eliminating the
necessity Of searching through the
time-worn bound volumes in which
the records formerly were kept.
Handling Of Books Eliminated.
These 6,876 large and unwieldy
books each contain records OF about
2e8 papers. The new system will be
carried on 4,792,572 cards, eliminating
the handling of the books and pro-
Viding cross references which will
greatly reduce the time and effort
necessary to prepare abstracts
Work on the project is being con-
Quoted in the Century Building, 4l2
Fifth street. 1t is sponsored by DR..
William j. Thompkins, Recorder of
Deeds for the District.
Day and night forces Of workers are
now engaged in abstracting infor-
nation from the old land records,
typing this information onto cards,
and verifying and filing the cards.
Before the work could be undertaken,
these workers were instructed as to
the purport Of conveyances, and the
procedure in abstracting the required
information for both the index records
and the lot-and-square title chains.
Gives Jobs to 125.
The project is unique in that it has
given employment to an average Of
l25 qualified white-collar colored
workers. taken from local relief rolls.
Established in recognition of the need
Of colored clerical workers for emer-
eency employment, and financed by
the Works Progress Administration,
1t has been in operation since March
/, 1896.
The system in use up to the present
4 known as the grantor grantee sys-
tenn. 1t is divided into 500 letter
combinations" and is contained in
large bound volumes. There are 1928
bound volumes In the general index to
land records from 1892 to 1899. Each
Of these volumes includes all the
letters of the alphabet, but starting
with 1910 the index was broken down
and single letters or combinations OF
several letters were bound in separate
volumes covering from one to six years.
The new system, known as the lot
and-square indexing system, affords
4 saving in labor inesthnable in value.
II Is divided simply into primary
subdivision and master guide"
Information on Cards.
The primary subdivision constitutes
che principal portion OF the set-up.
It is maintained on 5-by-8 inch cards
one being prepared to cover each
Instrument recorded. Each card con-
tains the date the instrument was
recorded, the instrument number,
square number. lot number, uber
number, folio number, parties to the
instrument, kind Of instrument and
brief description Of the property.
A number in the upper right-hand
corner Of each card forms the medium
Of identification between the primary
card and the alphabetical index. The
primary card is the record through
which the chain Of title to given
place can be traced by square and lot.
Each square and lot is carefully segre-
gated and the cards are filed in their
proper sequence to make a perfect
chain of title Immediately available
DO the searcher.
The master guide is further break
down OF the system, resorted to for the
purpose Of tnsuring greater degree
Of certainty and flexibilty in the
ding process. The searcher may not
know the square and lot number Of the
piece Of property in which he is in
terested, but by disclosing his name
or upon being directed to the secon-
dairy or alphabe file he may, in q
few moments. locate the transaction on
which he Is interested. He is then in
. position to refer to the squarc-and-
lot card file to trace the chain Of
title to the property In question.
File Is Alphabetical.
This Ale is an alphabetical and
contains the name of the grantor and
grantee to every paper recorded. 1t
enables person to identify the prop
srty In which he is interested, and
then refers him to the primary flle
where the chain OF title to the property
may Be easily run.
Tho advantages OF the new system
are many. It organizes, in proper
sequence, all transactions affecting
CE,E.