Guide - Guaranty Title and Trust Co. Records

In-depth Guide for Guaranty Title and Trust Company Records

These materials can be a great help when researching property histories in Norfolk and parts of the former Princess Anne and Norfolk counties.

What are the GTT records?

They include deed and title abstracts for individual parcels of land in and around Norfolk from the 1700s through the 1920s. These abstracts show who originally developed and sold the land, a history of owners through the years, and mortgage information. The Guaranty Title and Trust Company (GTT) records also include plat sheets (land maps showing property divisions within parcels) that match to the abstracts.

Link to record in the archival catalog:  http://smcarchives.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=682 

How are the GTT records organized?

The deed and title abstracts are organized in 3,800+ paperboard-bound volumes called packets (shown at left). Each packet corresponds to a numbered city block. Records inside each packet correspond to numbered lots within that block. With Norfolk’s expansion in the early 1900s, GTT added section as another level of packet organization (section > block > lot).

Packet covers are preformatted and annotated with packet/city block numbers (and section numbers, if used), associated plat sheet numbers, and the street corners which form the corners of the city block. Lot records inside the packet are clipped together by lot or adjoining lots, and are in numerical order.

The packets are shelved in numerical order. Packets 1 to about 1,800 are shelved by block number; subsequent packets are shelved by section number, then block number within that section.

The plat sheets are organized in simple numerical order and the collection includes about 2,800 plat sheets.

How do you find a GTT record?

We’ve created two new finding aids for the collection. The first is a searchable spreadsheet that contains key information from each packet cover: section number (if used), block number, street corners, associated plat numbers and neighborhood location. The spreadsheet is particularly useful when researching properties based on old addresses that have changed or were razed for new development (for example, the former residential areas around ODU, or downtown redevelopment zones). To access the spreadsheet:

The second new finding aid is a searchable map layer in Google Maps where a base map was annotated with the location of each GTT city block/packet that was “plotable” – about 2,300 in all. These appear as red dots, as shown on the screenshot at left. This finding aid is most useful for researching properties based on current street addresses.

To operate the map, you enter the property address in the map’s search window (or simply navigate to the property as you would on Google Maps). Click on the red dot centered in the city block that contains the property, and you’ll open a data window with the corresponding GTT packet number and plat sheets.

Note that because of street and neighborhood changes, about 10% of the blocks were plotted by best estimate (especially in old downtown areas). Other blocks could not be plotted due to uncertainty about exact location. That said, trial tests of the map show it to be accurate and simple to use. 

In addition to this map created in Google Maps, there is the original 1900 Bowman Atlas that GTT used to assist in finding packets pre-digital age.  It currently resides in SMC. The Bowman is hand-annotated with older block/packet numbers, and can be a quick way to find block/packet numbers. It’s also valuable for understanding old street names and patterns.  As a bonus, individual lot numbers are shown on some of the Bowman pages. The drawbacks to the Bowman are that it doesn’t cover some areas added to the city after 1900, and it’s often difficult to use when researching more modern properties.

Link to selective digitized plats and surveys found in the collection:  https://cdm15987.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15987coll17