The other day, I found a website called WhatWasThere.com. It overlays historical photographs
onto present-day Google Map streetviews, so that you can "see" what places looked like in the past. The database includes photographs and streetviews from all over the world. I could easily waste hour after enjoyable hour browsing through this website.
The homepage gives you the option of entering a city, state, country name, or zip code. At any point, you can easily zoom in or out using the scroll button on your mouse. Click one of the little orange bubbles, and a sidebar pops up showing you which photos are available for overlay.
onto present-day Google Map streetviews, so that you can "see" what places looked like in the past. The database includes photographs and streetviews from all over the world. I could easily waste hour after enjoyable hour browsing through this website.
The homepage gives you the option of entering a city, state, country name, or zip code. At any point, you can easily zoom in or out using the scroll button on your mouse. Click one of the little orange bubbles, and a sidebar pops up showing you which photos are available for overlay.
Click on any image in the sidebar, and it will pop up on the map. Then, you have the choice of "View Photo Details" or "Google Street View."
Select "Google Street View" and watch what happens. The photo is placed on a modern-day Google street view scene in about the same place in which it was located years ago. But wait, there's more! You can FADE the old photo in and out of the scene to see what the area looks like today! (second picture below)
I chose this photo from Downtown Cincinnati to use as my example in this post because it has special meaning to me and my kids. My daughter's one year photos were taken in that little park enclosed by the columns. It was a ridiculously hot and humid early September evening (the heat index was around 100F) so we were battling sweat beads and overly red faces in these photos. I also learned that, after business hours, there are no public toilets within a 2 block radius of this portion of East 5th Street between Sycamore and Broadway. Thank you, Mr. Bub, for helping me figure that one out :)
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The website also allows you to upload your own photos to add to its database. I found a photo of our 2007 trip to Vegas, in which I was looking down The Strip from the northern end (excellent IHOP, by the way). I decided to try my hand at adding and overlaying a photo. Uploading was very quick and easy, but overlaying it onto the Google Street View took me longer. Because Google Streets only let you turn and move, well, along the streets, it's almost impossible to match up the angle of your photo and Google's photos. I thought this would be a cool photo to upload, though, because The Sahara Hotel and Casino was closed down in 2011, so, in a way, this photo IS historical. (Turns out, this Google Street photo was taken in 2009, so that Sahara sign is still there, it's just behind a palm tree and down the street a little farther so you can't see it.) But, one day, when Google updates its images, my photo will be there still to remind people of the old Sahara Casino. I think that's pretty neat :)
©2012, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
