Thinking Outside the box with the CTX

[sparkster]

Stop by the historical society or museum of the town you live in. There is so much information there and older people also.
You can not imagine how much printed information concerning your area that they have and it all is at your disposal.

I'm on the board of directors of the historical society of my home town. They have maps, pictures and newspapers dating
Back to the late 1800's. Most historical societies have all of that.

 

[mcb613]

I too would like some hints on how to spot picnic groves. Have access to 1867 beers maps, sp im good there. Thanks for the help.

 

[GateKeeper]

I too would like some hints on how to spot picnic groves. Have access to 1867 beers maps, sp im good there. Thanks for the help.

The easiest way to find them is to research your local library or historical society. In my local library, there is a section on pre 1900's. In there you will find topo's, sanborn maps, and OLD newspaper clippings on where people had parties, picnic's, wedding's, and church gathering's. Now what you have to do is be a detective. If an old article says that a wedding was held at the old Johnson property, you then have to cross reference a plat map to find where the old Johnson property was. Then you can overlay that plat map or Sanborn map to Google earth . And there you have it.

If any of you guy's do not know how to overlay a map, check out Findmall's mapping forum. There are very detailed instructions on how to do it. I have to admit that the first time I tried it, it seemed overwhelming. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly. There is also a ruler on Google earth that you can measure from point to point to narrow down your search or implement GPS coordinates.

Also you can search the web. I just typed in my county, state and township. I also narrowed down the search by looking for PIONEER history.

 

[neslot]

Another option is google earth. there is a button at the top that lets you back up through archival areal photos of the area you are looking at.Galveston only goes back to '58 but old roads and train tracks etc are visible

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Old maps are a EXCELLENT place to start!