nrc
04-03-21, 03:03 AM
Did I mention that I'm re-arranging my basement? I can't really call it "cleaning out" at this point because so little is being thrown out. It's more about packaging things more efficiently and labeling everything at this point.
Anyway, I'm falling down all sorts of rabbit holes. Of course with my memory rapidly becoming mostly a fictionalized account of events, it's helpful to have some aids in figuring out just when things really happened, and where things were. Here are tools that I've found. Other suggestions welcome.
1. https://www.newspapers.com - I already had access to newspapers.com for genealogy purposes, but it has been a remarkable resource for figuring out what happened and when - everything from the first movie date for Missy and I to that time I got robbed delivering pizzas. (Moonraker, Jul 22 1979 at the Majestic Theater, btw) (The date, not the robbery).
2. https://vintageaerial.com - If you'd like to return to a time and place in a rural area in the mid-twentieth century this is a remarkable resource. If you're lucky. If you're lucky like me some company took an aerial picture of your grandparent's rural home or farm back in the '70s or '80s and tried to sell them an 8x10. Whether they bought it or not, you can buy it now. There are also lots of old stores and other artifacts. Just not easy to find because GPS wasn't widely available back then.
Here's the company park where Missy and I (unaware of one another at the time) spent many summer days. This park was operated by the local paper company that employed about a third of the town. Swim all day for a quarter. All the roast beef, ice cream you wanted on labor day (and beer for the grown-ups). Of course it's all gone now. Competing with slave labor doesn't allow small luxuries like quality of life for your employees.
1074
https://vintageaerial.com/photos/ohio/ross/1979/BRO/72/30
3. https://www.historicaerials.com/ - The source for Vintage Aerial was focused on rural areas. Historic Aerials provides old satellite views of more urban areas. The quality of mid-20th century satellite imagery leaves a lot to be desired. But at least you can see whether something was there or not, even if you have to fill in the details yourself.
4. Your local county auditor site - This varies by region but many county auditors (or whoever maintains property records and assesses taxes) have aerial imagery available, indexed by property address. This generally only goes back twenty years or so.
5. Google Earth - Similar imagery is available via Google Earth although I think you need the client to access it. They have some imagery going back to the '80s but again it's pretty fuzzy.
6. Google Street View - If you search for a location in Street View you should see an clock in the top left corner. Click on that and you can see their street view images of that location through history, going back to when they started peeking in your windows in the mid aughts.
Anyway, I'm falling down all sorts of rabbit holes. Of course with my memory rapidly becoming mostly a fictionalized account of events, it's helpful to have some aids in figuring out just when things really happened, and where things were. Here are tools that I've found. Other suggestions welcome.
1. https://www.newspapers.com - I already had access to newspapers.com for genealogy purposes, but it has been a remarkable resource for figuring out what happened and when - everything from the first movie date for Missy and I to that time I got robbed delivering pizzas. (Moonraker, Jul 22 1979 at the Majestic Theater, btw) (The date, not the robbery).
2. https://vintageaerial.com - If you'd like to return to a time and place in a rural area in the mid-twentieth century this is a remarkable resource. If you're lucky. If you're lucky like me some company took an aerial picture of your grandparent's rural home or farm back in the '70s or '80s and tried to sell them an 8x10. Whether they bought it or not, you can buy it now. There are also lots of old stores and other artifacts. Just not easy to find because GPS wasn't widely available back then.
Here's the company park where Missy and I (unaware of one another at the time) spent many summer days. This park was operated by the local paper company that employed about a third of the town. Swim all day for a quarter. All the roast beef, ice cream you wanted on labor day (and beer for the grown-ups). Of course it's all gone now. Competing with slave labor doesn't allow small luxuries like quality of life for your employees.
1074
https://vintageaerial.com/photos/ohio/ross/1979/BRO/72/30
3. https://www.historicaerials.com/ - The source for Vintage Aerial was focused on rural areas. Historic Aerials provides old satellite views of more urban areas. The quality of mid-20th century satellite imagery leaves a lot to be desired. But at least you can see whether something was there or not, even if you have to fill in the details yourself.
4. Your local county auditor site - This varies by region but many county auditors (or whoever maintains property records and assesses taxes) have aerial imagery available, indexed by property address. This generally only goes back twenty years or so.
5. Google Earth - Similar imagery is available via Google Earth although I think you need the client to access it. They have some imagery going back to the '80s but again it's pretty fuzzy.
6. Google Street View - If you search for a location in Street View you should see an clock in the top left corner. Click on that and you can see their street view images of that location through history, going back to when they started peeking in your windows in the mid aughts.