The Premises Records were generated through the Department of Building Inspection and
cover buildings built and razed roughly during the time period of 1888-1980. These
are by no means the complete collection of City records. The contents of each file
were solely determined by the individual inspector, based upon the type of building
inspection needed. Some files contain a multitude of paperwork, dating back to the
original application to build, through the process of razing one or more structures
on the property, while some may contain very little. Inspectors used a variety of
methods for documenting the premises records, including but not limited to:
photographs, plats and surveys, or building blueprints. Some inspectors did not use
any additional sources to complete their inspections.
There are many reasons for a property to have buildings razed: blight elimination,
freeway expansion, extensive damage to the building such as from fire, or excessive
code violations (failure to bring a property up to City codes). “Raze” orders were
not always issued for the main dwelling on the premises, but sometimes only for the
outbuildings (sheds, garages, small cottage at the rear of the property, etc.). It
is important to remember when using these records that not all buildings in these
documents were razed. Additional scope and content notes of each series are provided
in the contents list below.
