Online Pictures, Floor Plans For Parts of 9 Northeastern States

[jbvb]

Visions Government Solutions puts towns and cities assessing data online in 9 states: VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, RI, PA and VA.:

https://www.vgsi.com/taxpayer-info/

Service is on a town-by-town basis; you won't find my house here because our assessing company has its own site.  But if you want the overall dimensions of the Amesbury MA Eastern RR station, select Massachusetts, then Amesbury, enter 32 Elm St. Click on the plan to show it in a separate window, then have your browser save it as an image. All properties appear to have a current picture of one side.

[jbvb]

I made the thread title clearer, and here's an example: 114 High St. is a historic house which was the American Legion in my youth. I can easily photograph the building, but I don't know the owners so measuring it might not be possible.  However, square footage of a structure is central to most property tax assessment, and the information is public so everyone in town can compare their valuations.

[Rail and Tie]

That is a pretty handy site. I wish we had that for the pacific north west.  Very handy for getting started on a new building for sure.

Thanks for posting this JB!

[jbvb]

That is a pretty handy site. I wish we had that for the pacific north west.  Very handy for getting started on a new building for sure.

Thanks for posting this JB!

You're welcome. These days, most towns and cities with more than a few thousand population have assessing data like this online. When I first found that out, some showed plans for upper floors, but these days most standardize on the minimum. If you're interested in a building that's still standing, look up the town (or maybe county in the West and South) to see what's online.  Once I asked a Tax Collector's clerk nicely (and not the week taxes were due) if they'd scan me an old card for a demolished building.  It appeared in my email a day later:



My wife built it from the plan and photos I'd taken during its decline:



The attached 1-story building on the left was a different map & lot number, so had its own assessing plan.

[jbvb]

Another place to check for information about existing structures is on-line GIS systems. The site I've linked is run by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, a regional body providing services to a dozen or two towns in Massachusetts' Essex County.  West of the Hudson, you're likely to find similar information at the County level, except for towns & cities large enough to have their own local government.

MVPC GIS Page for Newburyport, MA

This site includes the best aerial photo coverage I've found outside of commercial sites, plus property lines and ownership information. In other areas, you may find more or less useful data, but it's likely worth checking if you can't measure & photograph a property from the ground.

[ACL1504]

Interesting information. We don't have anything like that here.

Very nice build of the old structure. Kathima is a true model builder.

Tom

[jbvb]

Tom, Polk Co. is the part of Florida I know best, from several trips to visit my second wife's grandmother there.  It took a little looking, but searching for "Polk County FL GIS" got useful results.  Lakeland has aerials, including showing an area now vs. 1970 side-by-side.  You can zoom in to see individual houses. It's all built on ArcGIS. Some views let you measure too.  Polk County Florida Property Appraiser Interactive Map doesn't show structure dimensions like Newburyport's does, but it lets me measure the dimensions of a building on the aerial image.