1800s-1920s Antique Maine Deeds Property Title Archive Maps Ephemera Sealed For Sale

Large and fascinating antique Maine real-estate and legal document archive containing material dating from the late 1800s through the 1920s, along with property research and title-history information referencing additional 19th-century transactions.

Everything shown in the photographs is included.

This appears to be an old working archive of deeds, title research, property transfers, mortgages, legal correspondence, Registry of Deeds material, maps, plats and other historical real-estate paperwork relating primarily to York County, Maine.

Locations represented throughout the collection include Saco, offerdeford, Alfred, Old Orchard and surrounding Maine areas.

The collection includes a wide variety of antique material, including:

• Late-1800s and early-1900s property-related documents

• Antique deeds and deed research

• Warranty deed information

• Quitclaim deed information

• Mortgage records

• Property-transfer records

• Registry of Deeds correspondence

• Chains of title and ownership research

• Hand-drawn property maps and lot plans

• Property boundary and acreage information

• Legal correspondence

• York County-related paperwork

• Registered-mail and postal documentation

• Original signatures, seals and period markings

• Antique folders and envelopes

• Historical references to property transactions dating well into the 1800s

Some of the visible records reference transactions from the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s, with several pieces in the archive dating from the late 19th century and many additional documents dating from the 1920s.

One especially interesting feature of this collection is the presence of three antique envelopes that appear to remain completely sealed and unopened.

These envelopes appear to have remained closed for approximately 100 years. They have intentionally been left exactly as found and will be sent to the buyer unopened. Their contents are unknown, making them a particularly intriguing part of the archive.

Visible material includes references to property ownership, mortgages, land transfers, deeds, Registry of Deeds research and historic Maine real estate records spanning multiple decades.

This collection would be especially appealing to collectors of:

• 1800s Maine history

• Antique deeds

• York County history

• Saco and offerdeford history

• Legal ephemera

• Genealogy

• Historical real-estate records

• Antique maps and plats

• Postal history

• Local-history research

• Late-19th-century paper collectibles

• Early-20th-century documents

Condition:

These are genuine old paper documents and show the expected signs of age and long-term storage. Condition varies from piece to piece and includes toning, discoloration, staining, folds, creasing, edge wear, small tears and other age-related wear.

The three sealed envelopes show age and storage wear but appear to remain unopened.

Nothing has been cleaned, altered or restored. The entire collection is being offered exactly as found.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they show the actual documents and condition included in this lot.

A highly interesting antique Maine property and legal archive spanning the late 1800s into the 1920s, with strong historical, genealogical, real-estate and local-history appeal.

Everything pictured is included and will be sold together as one lot.