UNCOVER THE STORY BEHIND PLACE
Historic Property Research
Belloni Research Consulting provides professional historic property and place-based research for property owners, legal professionals, preservationists, developers, realtors, planning professionals, local governments, and other organizations seeking a deeper understanding of the built environment. My work connects the tangible present to the past through careful analysis of primary sources and thoughtful synthesis of archival evidence.
If you have a specific historical question about a property, need documented evidence for due diligence or regulatory review, wish to verify or challenge a long-standing claim, or simply want to better understand the story of a particular place, I provide clear, evidence-based research grounded in the historical record.
See below for a few featured projects.
Property History Reports
I produce comprehensive written property history reports delivered in digital format. Each report presents a clear, engaging overview of the property’s history, including detailed information about past owners and occupants, as well as relevant contextual history such as neighborhood development, architectural background, or broader historical themes when appropriate.
Research is supported by full source citations and, whenever available, copies of relevant documents, historic maps, photographs, and other supporting materials. My goal is not simply to assemble records, but to understand them and tell the property’s story clearly and accurately.
Targeted & Issue-Specific Property Research
In addition to full historical reports, I take on focused research assignments addressing specific questions or documentation needs. Examples include:
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Establishing ownership during a defined time period
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Verifying or disproving a local historical claim
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Researching a single former occupant
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Determining construction dates or alteration periods
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Documenting historical land use
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Locating historic maps or photographs
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Documented historical research for legal, planning, or due diligence purposes.
These projects are scoped according to the question at hand and can be an efficient option when a comprehensive narrative report is not required.
Service Area
My primary area of service is central Indiana, though I am happy to take on select projects throughout the state of Indiana and the larger Midwest on a case-by-case basis.
Contact me today to talk through your project!
Project
HIGHLIGHTS
Hamilton Carriage House
Shelbyville, Indiana
Historical investigation into the history and construction date of a nineteenth-century brick carriage house in Shelbyville, Indiana. Research drew on Sanborn fire insurance maps, bird’s-eye-view lithographs, land records, tax records, newspapers, and census data to reconstruct the property’s development over time.
The project established that the extant carriage house was likely constructed between 1893 and 1898 as part of a major renovation campaign undertaken by a prominent local family. Earlier maps and lithographs documented previous outbuildings on the site, allowing for clear differentiation between earlier structures and the surviving carriage house.
Beyond dating the structure, the research placed the property within the broader commercial and architectural development of Shelbyville in the late nineteenth century, connecting the building to larger patterns of wealth, urban growth, and community identity.
Lizton Alleyway
Lizton, Indiana
Historical investigation of a nineteenth-century property in Lizton, Indiana, with a focus on the origins and legal history of adjacent alleyways and the surrounding town layout. Research drew on original town plats, deeds, county transfer records, and historical maps to reconstruct both the property’s ownership history and the development of the surrounding streetscape from the town’s founding in 1851 to the present.
The project documented more than 150 years of continuous property transfers involving approximately two dozen owners, while also tracing the establishment and persistence of twelve-foot alleyways laid out in the original 1851 plat of New Elizabethtown. By correlating successive deed descriptions with plat records, the research demonstrated that these alleyways remained part of the original public town plan and showed no evidence of being vacated or transferred into private ownership.
The report combined legal land analysis with historical context to clarify questions about property boundaries, access, and the early development pattern of the town.
2757 Napoleon Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
Historical investigation of a twentieth-century residential property in Indianapolis using plat analysis, Baist Property Atlases, historical maps, real estate advertisements, city directories, census records, and newspapers. The research reconstructed both the construction history of the house and the development of the surrounding neighborhood.
The study established that the home was constructed in 1929 during a later phase of development within a larger early twentieth-century subdivision. It was built on reconfigured lots created from previously unsold parcels, reflecting changing patterns of residential development during the interwar period. Real estate advertisements and property atlases were used to narrow the construction date and identify early ownership and occupancy.
Beyond the individual property, the report placed the house within the broader transformation of the surrounding area, from nineteenth-century farmland into a planned residential subdivision associated with the growth of Garfield Park. This included documenting the subdivision of a 160-acre farm, the creation of multiple plats, and the gradual build-out of the neighborhood through the early twentieth century.