A visit to City Hall, Business License Department, will reveal the owner or management company that is handling the property, along with their address as apartments have to have a business license in municipalities, at least in California. If the address is a post office, it probably is not professionally managed as many owners do not want contact with tenants. Be aware that each state has different civil codes and real estate laws, so that any information given on this forum is usually applicable to the state in which the person posting lives. If it is an LLC that owns the building, there will be a property management firm, perhaps owned by the LLC that you should be able to talk to. A word to the wise: When you are looking to rent an apartment, find out who you will have to deal with and do a little detective work about either a property management company or an owner. This will really make a difference for you as a tenant. If the owner is involved and you meet them personally at the property, chances are they are a good owner who cares about the property. If it is a property management company, investigate to see if you can get through the front door to the supervisor for that property so that you can address problems, if necessary. There are many, many bad owners and bad property management companies. I have had to work with a number of them. Slumlords are the worst. There are also many property management companies who are not responsive to needs of the tenant because they work for the owner of the building. What this type of management firm doesn't realize is that when a building runs smoothly, the job is easier and there is more money in their pockets in the long run. I had an open door policy and a tenant in any building that my company managed could always come to me to express their concerns. Didn't mean the outcome ended in their favor, but they knew they were being treated fairly and respectfully. If you meet a manager, look around the property, and their office or apartment. If it is clean with no papers, gum, cigarette butts around the grounds, clean laundry rooms, then probably the manager is a good one. If there is trash in the street gutters in front of the building, dirty trash areas, dirty laundry rooms, trash cans overflowing, run as fast as you can. Just be alert, with your eyes open to the entire property.

Joseph, you just illustrated the reason there is a market for handymen. We charge a lot less for the work we do, because contractors either do not even bid/consider the jobs we do or the contractors cost is too high. There is room for both your level of expertise and work as well as ours. Just seems a bit derogatory for you to accuse us of not following the same requirements you have to follow when we do not do the same work. I did jobs for high end customers(and charged accordingly) and did jobs for a 'Story and a Hug' for those folks who were on fixed incomes and could barely pay their rent/food. Examples: Treads/skirting/railing on stairs cost the customer $600 in labor and that much more in material. Took two days. Replacing about 30 square feet of mobile home flooring so the HO could use her bathroom(the floor rotted, she fell through it and broke her ankle) instead of going to a neighbor's place. Took a day, materials were donated and my labor was compensated with several stories as I worked and a HUGE hug(with lots of happy tears). I worked a lot harder and had a lot more fun doing the floor.

Thank you all for the many responses! I was out all yesterday, but didn’t make it to the library. I thought I'd get there today, but the weather is keeping me home. Adellabedella, they had children, and I was able to track the two sons. But the other five were all girls. Thanks so much for the Chronicling America link. I used that a lot years ago, but had lost the bookmark in a computer change. I love that site, even if I’m not looking for anything specific. Those newspapers have numerous references to my grandparents, opera singers who performed all over the country. Rusty, it’s true that the Ellis Island site starts a year later than what I was looking for, but it’s a great site and I’m glad to know about it—thanks! I discovered FamilySearch recently, which is where I found the Census reports. I remember years ago not many of these were available. Lindsey, I'm always interested in the knowledge you share. I had no clue about Italian and German names. Seniorgal, our local Historical Society has a nice genealogy section, but all my family came from NYC. I'm sure the city has excellent resources, but it's a little vast. (That must be an oxymoron.) lol I haven't lived there in years. As some of you know, I’m a volunteer gravestone photographer for FindAGrave. Yesterday I happened upon FAG memorial pages for two of my children’s ancestors, and asked that management of the pages be transferred to me. I was happy to send the links to my kids and granddaughter. It’s funny that my 26-year-old granddaughter has a strong interest in family history that I thought she wouldn’t develop until much later. Thanks again!

I am, obviously, in Ohio. I got m EDL last year, in April. I do have a passport, but I took EVERYTHING that was listed, including the registrars copy of our marriage license, NOT the fancy church one, as it instructs us. I had everything in a manila envelope. The lady only looked at a few things, but mainly used the passport. Then was required to have someone else come and verify her work. DON'T assume that a passport alone will be enough. My DH's was refused. And he had to have verification of most everything also. He went the next day to a different office, and they accepted his passport. I asked why it hadn't been accepted at the office I went to, and the explanation was that if anything had been keyed in wrong, they couldn't change it, that it would kick it out of the system for 24 hours. I asked both people who helped me, separately, and got the same answer. My girlfriend has been widowed twice and divorced once. She had to find all of the documentation from all of them. I do not plan to fly again, but can still be called for jury duty to a federal building, and you never know, I may have to fly again, even if I don't want to. At some point, I will probably let my passport expire, but who knows. I need to check and see when it expires!