Finding sites & research question(s)

[Shawn1972]

Hello all,

I use the internet and google earth to try and find possible mding site in and around my surrounding area,but I seem to have some trouble finding and pinpointing good locations from the past.

I'm pretty much stuck detecting the same schools,parks,recreation areas that i have been for sometime now,although i do come across some ok things now and then but I'd like to hone my researching savvy so it might help me get on some productive old sites and amp up my finds.

So my question is....... how do you all go about your research?.......any websites etc. i should be going on that i may be missing?

thanks

 

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[treasurehound]

Look for historic maps in your area. I am always researching and have found a lot of old maps by consistantly googling. I have even found some sanborn maps outside of their website. Also check the history of schools and parks. I will send you a pm that may help you in your research.

 

[treasurehound]

I sent you a pm with a couple sites that should help you. Good luck as they have been great for me.

 

[CurlysGold]

I'll get you pointed in the right direction.

Go here:

NETR Online • Historic Aerials

Search for your town. Zoom out. Switch the maps to one of the old topographic maps. Click the survey button, select coordinates. Drag the dot to any of the buildings on the map. Put the coordinates in your phone/GPS.

 

[CurlysGold]

Additionally check here: Chronicling America « Library of Congress Pick your state and then search for your town and use some keywords.

 

[CurlysGold]

Key words to get you started:

camp, hole, pool, grove, park, lake, carnival, circus, fair, field, springs, swimming, ball, fort, grounds, picnic, groups, gathering, reunion, brush arbor, encampment, rally, convention, debate, revival, chautauqua, "all-day singing," "dinner on the ground," "lawn social," "ice cream social," homecoming (community, not school/sports), sangerfest, outdoor, grounds, fairgrounds, field, common,
lawn, grove, watering hole, public square, town square, courthouse square, village square, hanging tree, camp meeting, river baptisms, races, jubilees, corn shucking parties, barn raisings, ladies garden parties, festival, parade, gypsy camps, grand openings,
disasters (trains,fires,etc), old speak easys, stage stops, way stations, prayer meeting, meeting hall, meeting house, get-together, troop, assembly, civil war conventions, protests, rallies, outdoor dances, weddings, resorts, Dutch Suppers, Garden Party, Shindig, celebration, shindy, Grange meeting, Grange socials, Political rallies, Depression era shantytown, hobo village, church socials, kissing bridges, make-out point, gathering places 1800's, Path, trail, lot, woods, lake, pow wow, jamboree, ceremonies, Memorials, ginmill, Feasts, grounds, sleighride parties, bicycle parties, centenial celebrations, KP detail, work release, Dew-Drop-Inn Bar, State Liquor Store, Cookout, Bar-B-Que, barbeque, barbaque.

 

[Frankn]

Yes the Library of Congress Is good for information, but it somewhat divided into batches of information that have been donated and some are not linked. Also check out the Maproom. It has provided me with valuable information. There is another great source in the form of the United States Treasure Atlas by: Thomas P. Terry. It contains his life work on treasure research. It also contains ghost towns. It is a 10 volume set. New York is in volume 7. Frank...

 

[Shawn1972]

thanks guys all this info will give me a fresh starting point,I appreciate you replies and help

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

thanks guys all this info will give me a fresh starting point,I appreciate you replies and help

Here's a way to find old-town urban demolition (tractor tearouts of old sidewalks, old buildings, etc...): Do a google news search on key word combinations like "Historic" + "demolition", or "sidewalk" + "old town", or "razed" + "historic", or "install" + "artificial turf" and so forth. Naturally, you'll get hits from all over the world, going back 30 days or whatever. Of course that will be useless. Next however, go down to the bottom where it says "advanced search". Now you can hone it down to *only* find hits from news sources within your state. A lot of them will be meaningless word combinations that just happen to have those words in there. But occasionally you can find some news blurb about an upcoming old-town demolition/tearout project in towns near you, that you would otherwise have never stumbled upon. Like plans to install artificial turf in an old park or stadium (which means they'll have to scrape out the existing old turf for a temporary yummy period down to 6 or 8" deep

Of course, this assumes, you're not ...... uh ... timid about hunting demolition sites after 5pm.

At the bottom of the page, you can even set up for google news alerts to be sent to your inbox, whenever hits come up for your state, with those word combinations. Thus you may get a few hits a day. And you can quickly hit the delete button for titles that you can see are of some other nature.

 

[Alex Burke]

I would add "Trove.com" and similar sites to what they do, and try typing key words in and clicking books so it just searches google books can be helpful.

 

[finderskeepers]

...and check Google(books) keywords: "your town/county"+ history. Someone published a retrospective of my town for it's 250 anniversary and I found digital edition available for free on Google books.BTW, a copy was/is available at my local library. 600+ pages of all kinds of details and stories. I also purchased a similarly comprehensive work on a neighboring town through the local historical society. @ $25, I feel like it was a great purchase.

 

[Alex Burke]

Additionally check here: Chronicling America « Library of Congress Pick your state and then search for your town and use some keywords.

This is same site but the map section, it has tons of maps for free: Search Results for "" -- 1 - 20 of 12179 from the Library of Congress

 

[hudsonc]

could you please help me also treasurehound?

 

[Atomic Ed]

Wow good info from you guys on locating places. I have had a difficult time around my area trying to find any older sites to hunt at.