What document should show when private property is taken for county road? What if there is no record? Is there any recourse to owner?

Check with the title company you used when you bought the property. They generally insure the description set forth in your deed and maybe responsible if they did not pick up the City easement for the road across your property. You will need a copy of your deed and the previous deed to compare the descriptions. It would also be helpful to check with the City to determine when they acquired an easement over the property and what transpired at that time.

Ordinarily a public road can be created by only one of three ways:  the owner conveying the necessary land to the county (if it is a county road); or by condemnation, or by public use for many years without the owner's objection.  If the road you refer to was conveyed to the county by deed, there should be a copy of the deed filed in the public office where deed records are maintained.  A more recent deed - such as yours - need not make reference to it, but the conveyance to you would be subject to the rights of the public anyway. If the county condemned the property, again there would be a record of the condemnation action in the court having jurisdiction over such actions.  Copies, of course, should be recorded also in the office that maintains deed records so that title examiners would find the records. If the road -- many years ago -- was slightly re-routed for some reason and simply cut across the corner of the property that later became yours, and this was done without the owner's consent, the owner had a right to object and demand payment for the land being applied to public use.  If he did not object, most states laws would recognize that, at some point, title to that portion used as a road became part of the public road system and thus ownership resided with the county.  This concept is generally known as adverse possession.  If it happened many years ago, it is very doubtful that you have any recourse.  You could retain the services of an attorney (or an abstract company if there is one in your area) to research the title for a fee and inform you of the specifics if there is a record somewhere of the transition of title from private to public with respect to the little parcel of land of concern.