Library Guides: MU History and Local History: Places and Property

Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places - Boone County
Missouri Cultural Resource Inventory
National Register files contain copies of nomination forms, maps, and photographs for all of Missouri's listed historic properties (buildings, sites, structures, objects and districts). For the protection of some sensitive and endangered sites, notably archeological sites, some information in these files is restricted.

Boone County Recorder of Deeds
Historical research can be done by appointment, but some of it can be done electronically.

Table of Contents

Types of Deeds

Warranty Deeds: Convey and warrant clear title to real property; showing dates, names of grantors and grantees, considerations, descriptions and locations of properties, signatures of grantors, acknowledgements, dates filed and certifications.
Quitclaim Deeds: Records transfers of interest in or title to real property without warranting clear title, showing dates, names of grantors and grantees, and excluding other requirements of a warranty deed (mentioned above).
Deeds of Trust: Records of movements of real estate to a trustee as security for repayment of money loaned; shows dates, and names of grantors, grantees, and beneficiaries. Also includes descriptions and amounts of notes, descriptions and locations of properties, terms of instruments, maturities, acknowledgements, dates filed, and certifications.
Plat Books: Show physical locations of land by section, township or range, in towns and cities by lot and block number or additional subdivisions. They will usually include the name of the owner, road and school district where it is located, number of acres, dimensions of tract or lot, and survey number. These are created by the county surveyor to be filed with the Recorder of Deeds

What you won't find in the deeds:

Blueprints
Records of the actual buildings on the property – unless there are restrictions on the size or placement of the buildings
Maps of properties

For more information on types of deeds and other documents see the Description of Record Series webpage

(Photos Courtesy of the Boone County Recorder of Deeds)

Restrictions in Deeds

Before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, it was legal to make restrictions on the physical building, the lot size and on the race(s) of people who would be allowed to live on the property
To learn more about restrictive covenants go here
In 2023, Missouri passed a law that required the removal of discriminatory covenants
To get a restrictive covenant removed from a Missouri deed you can fill out this form

Access

Access to the information in the Office of Deeds is only for Boone County, MO
In-Person Access: All deeds and index books
Online:
- All documents after 1965 are free to access online
- Documents prior to 1965 can accessed after signing up for a subscription
Subscriptions are available for historical researchers, research strategies will depend on the era of record that you need

(Photo Courtesy of the Boone County Recorder of Deeds)

Using the Indexes

The indexes will give you a deed book and the page number of the deed you’re looking for
If you have a name to search for then you can check the regular index to find the grantor/seller, or the inverted index to find the grantee/buyer -- from there, the index will help you find the other party’s name, as well as the deed book and page number where the deed is located

Entries are organized by the names of the grantors and grantees:
- Entries are ordered in the same order that they hit the office
- Surnames of the grantee/grantor are filed under two-letter sections:
  - Filed under the first consonant & first vowel of the surname
  - Example: “Smith” would be found under “SI” and “Richards” would be found under “RI”
Direct Indexes: arranged alphabetically by the surname of the grantor/seller
Indirect Indexes: arranged alphabetically by the surname of the grantee/buyer

(Photos Courtesy of the Boone County Recorder of Deeds)

Browsing the Volumes

(Photos Courtesy of the Boone County Recorder of Deeds)