Priscilla McNeil, Researcher

Priscilla McNeil (1930-2021) is to be credited with the research of land records for Judith Helm’s book on Tenleytown. Her research, done in person at the various repositories of the records, predated the internet and was challenging. (In the case of very early land records, many not digitized, it still is.)

Reading and deciphering the deeds and lifting the libers required strength, patience, determination, and curiosity. Her work was comprehensive and meticulous, and is integral to understanding Tenleytown’s growth and history.

Priscilla was Judith Helm’s neighbor and lived on Alton Place in Armesleigh Park for thirty years beginning in the early 1960s.