The University Real Estate Title Papers document the acquisition, management, and sale of almost all real estate owned by the University of Pennsylvania from roughly 1870 to 2006. The files contain the muniments of title, i.e. the documents relating to ownership of land, of University property. These consist primarily of deeds, mortgages, bonds, title insurance policies, and agreements of sale. In addition one can also find appraisals, which often include photographs, plans and surveys, receipts, invoices, and correspondence regarding the acquisition, management and sale of the property in the Inactive Property File series. The contents of the files generally date from the time when the property was acquired. In some cases, the files may contain the original deeds that predate the University's ownership. Before title insurance companies developed in the late nineteenth century it was common for the purchaser of land in Pennsylvania to receive all the prior original deeds to the property as a means to guarantee and prove his or her legal ownership. In the files for the Chestnut Street Opera, for example, can be found the original deed for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art's first home on Chestnut Street. In addition to the original deeds, briefs of title were often prepared to document the entire history of ownership back to the original land grants from either the Pennsylvania Proprietors or the Commonwealth. There are several files in this collection that contain briefs of title in both manuscript and printed form. Though the geographical scope of the collection is primarily focused around the current campus of the University of Pennsylvania, the collection contains files relating to other properties formerly owned by the University, such as the Medico Chirurgical College at 18th and Cherry Streets, the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in Medicine (later known as Graduate Hospital) in the 1800 block of Lombard Street, the Woolman farm in Valley Forge, the New Bolton Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania and the Town Estate in Manchester, Massachusetts in addition to numerous other properties donated to and later sold by the University. These files contain some documentation regarding buildings, primarily in the form of plot plans and assessments. One file, the College Boat House, contains floor plans for an addition to the building in the 1920s. There are also a few building specifications and some releases of liens signed by contractors and subcontractors. The latter are from the 1950s and 1960s and relate to new buildings and alterations to existing buildings. These supplement the main body of construction contracts and records which are found in other series of the Office of the Treasurer's records and the Facilities and Real Estate Services records at the University Archives.
