District of Columbia Land and Property

The District of Columbia was created in 1790 from Maryland and Virginia. Land records for the District of Columbia, 1792 to 1886, are on 694 microfilms at the Family History Library. The documents include deeds of transfer of title, bills of sale, mortgages, and manumissions. There is a grantor/grantee index for 1792 to 1919. The original records and indexes are located in the office of the Recorder of Deeds, 515 D Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001, Telephone: 202-727-5189, Fax: 202-727-9629.

Deed books for Alexandria County, Virginia, are at the Alexandria City courthouse. Copies are at the Family History Library (1783-1865; indexed 1793-1870). The Family History Library also has the Maryland Circuit Court deeds for Prince George County (1696-1884) and Montgomery County (1773-1868).

A list of the earliest settlers is in Bessie Wilmarth Gahn, Original Patentees of Land at Washington Prior to 1700, 1936, Reprint (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969; FHL book 975.3 R21g).