Research Guides: Local History and Genealogy Resources: Land and Property Records

Online Resources to get you started

The Official Federal Land Office Records
Federal Land Patents offer researchers a source of information on the initial transfer of land titles from the Federal government to individuals. Survey plats are part of the official record of a cadastral survey. Surveying is the art and science of measuring the land to locate the limits of an owner's interest thereon.
Wisconsin Public Land Survey Records
The field notes and plat maps of the public land survey of Wisconsin are a valuable resource for original land survey information, as well as for understanding Wisconsin's landscape history. The survey of Wisconsin was conducted between 1832 and 1866 by the federal General Land Office.
Tutorial on the Public Land Survey System Descriptions
Guidance document by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Native Land Digital
This map is a living document, informed by the contributions of Indigenous communities, Indigenous knowledge holders and their stories. It does not claim to represent official or legal boundaries. We encourage you to connect directly with the Indigenous nations to learn more about their territories and histories.

Court Records

Many types of court records can contain information about land. For example, civil case files include land disputes; probate files include transfer of ownership information after a death.

Burnett County Civil Case Files,1888-1971, and Probate records.

Pierce County Civil Case Files, ca. 1866-1930

Polk County Homestead and Land Entry Records, 1865-1914, Probate Files, 1855-1941, and Records of State Lands in Polk County, 1859-1917.

Saint Croix County Civil Case Files 1850-1928, and Judgment Book of Foreclosure and Sale, 1860-1920.

Plat Maps

Wisconsin land ownership maps and atlases—often referred to as plat maps—identify local landowners in a county and provide information about the county's topographic and cultural features. Township maps show the boundaries and acreage of farms, locations of churches, cemeteries, schools, quarries, cheese factories, and other businesses. The township maps also show roads and railways, and topographical features such as rivers, lakes, marshlands, and hills.

Learn more about land ownership maps on the Wisconsin Historical Society's website. For digitized maps and atlases available online, see links below. Search for all available plat maps and atlases.

Burnett	1915, 1930, 1931, 1948, 1962, 1965, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1997, 2006, 2010, 2013
Pierce	1877-1878, 1895, 1908, 1917, ca.1920, 1930, 1941, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2006, 2010, 2013
Polk	1887, 1914, 1924, 1931, ca. 1940, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2007, 2010
Saint Croix	1876, 1886, 1897, 1914, 1925, 1929, 1938, 1949, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2005, 2008, 2010

Barron	2008, 2012
Dunn	1888, 1927, 2008, 2011, 2013
Pepin	1877, 2003, 2008, 2012
Rusk	2007
Washburn	2008, 2012

Tax and Assessment Rolls

The Archives have tax rolls from townships and villages or cities in each of the 4 counties. Years available vary by township/village. Holdings will cover every year up to 1900 (if available) and then every 5 years after 1900 to 2005. These records document property owners, property valuation, taxes paid, and sometimes list personal property.

Search the tax rolls we have available at UWRF Access to Memory

Many are available through the county websites.

Burnett County, WI, 2005-Present

Pierce County, WI 2001 - Present

St. Croix County, WI 2002- Present

Polk County, WI 2000-Present (Digitized Historic Rolls)

County Government Records

Records created by county government entities include the County clerk, treasurer, and town assessors. The UWRF Archives does not have any title records of the Register of Deeds offices; please see the county courthouse in the county you are interested.

Burnett County

Real Estate Sales Reports, 1908-1911
Tax Sale Book, 1866-1874

Pierce County

Abstracts of Tax Sales, 1856-1871
Real Estate Assessor's Field Book, 1946-47 (Town of Clifton)
Real Estate Assessor's Field Book, 1929, 1931-32, 1962 (Town of Gilman)
Record of Tax Sale Certificates Assigned, 1857-1860 [bulk: 1858]
Records of State Lands in Pierce County, 1855-1879
Roll of State Lands, 1860-1864
Tax Sale Books, 1855-1943

Polk County

Abstract of Lands Entered and Minutes, 1853-1896, 1906-1920
Ledger of Lands Owned and Sold by Polk County, 1894-1909
Miscellaneous Tax Records, 1862-1884

Saint Croix County

Real Estate Assessor's Field Book, 1931-35
Record of Sale of Land for Unpaid Taxes, 1870-1896
Recorded Documents, 1854-1886
Surveyor's Field Notes, 1851-1865

Manuscript Collections

Personal/business/organizational papers and records.

Burnett County

Edward L. Peet Papers, 1859-1929 (River Falls Mss BV)
(Peet was a land developer and promoter of immigration to the cutover lands of northern Wisconsin. The collection also includes records relating to the Kohler-Peet Company, a firm dealing in land along the St. Crox and Clam rivers.)

Pierce County

George W. Cairns, Pierce County Register of Deeds, some papers from 1855-1873, in the Gertrude M. Cairns Papers, 1845-1959 (River Falls Mss I)
Fred D. Lord Correspondence, 1893-1896 (River Falls Mss AH)

Polk County

Baker Land and Title Company (Saint Croix Falls) Records, 1879-1958 (River Falls Mss AZ)
William M. Blanding Papers, 1847-1958 (River Falls Mss X)

Saint Croix County

Baker Land and Title Company (Saint Croix Falls) Records, 1879-1958 (River Falls Mss AZ)
William M. Blanding Papers, 1847-1958 (River Falls Mss X)
Edward L. Peet Papers, 1859-1929 (River Falls Mss BV)
(Peet was a land developer and promoter of immigration to the cutover lands of northern Wisconsin. The collection also includes records relating to the Kohler-Peet Company, a firm dealing in land along the St. Crox and Clam rivers.)
Leonard G. Rowe, Studies, 1964 and 1965. (River Falls SC 110)
(Two papers, written by Rowe: "A Historical Geography of a 'Partnership Region'" concerning the Hersey, Staples lumbering company operations in St. Croix County, and "A Study of a Rural Anomaly ...,' Century Farms.")

Farm Statistics

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture annual enumeration of farm statistics by assessors, 1923-1980.
Reports of farm statistics gathered by local assessors under Chapter 131, Laws of Wisconsin, 1917, and submitted to the United States and Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture. For each farm, the reports show name of farm operator, acres of specified crops planted and harvested, number of cattle and other specified livestock, farm machinery owned, and number of people residing on the farm. The categories of information included in the reports vary slightly over the years. Reports for some counties for some years were missing at the time the records were microfilmed.