Research by Map
I love maps. I always have. Growing up, I liked paging through the United States and Michigan atlases we kept in the house. When Google Street View came into existence, I was a happy camper. Taking virtual trips around the world? Yes, please!
I got the idea last week to research the history of places I've lived. I came across a site called Historic Map Works that sells prints of old maps (and some modern ones, too). You can preview the maps before buying and zoom in close for details. I started by looking up the place I grew up, Kochville Township. I found several Kochville maps, and by looking at them side-by-side with a modern map, was able to figure out where my house would have been and who owned the land. A family with the last name Dixon owned the land for a long time. I located the Dixons in the census, and found a farm schedule for one year that listed all the crops and animals they owned. Even though these people aren't related to me at all, I still found it fascinating to think about them walking the same land I did decades later, and to picture an old farmhouse sitting where our own house sat. When I was a kid, my cousins and I would sometimes walk around in the field behind my house and find old, broken dishes or glass bottles, old buttons, or old coins. When we came across that stuff I'd always think of the farm families and wonder what it was like living in that area back then, when it was so rural there was almost nothing but fields and you had to bury your trash to get rid of it.
I studied other maps, too, including the town I live in now, the town where my husband Jason grew up, and the neighborhood where my grandparents lived. I'd love to find old pictures someday of these areas, especially Kochville Township. If I ever do, I'll have to post them here.
I got the idea last week to research the history of places I've lived. I came across a site called Historic Map Works that sells prints of old maps (and some modern ones, too). You can preview the maps before buying and zoom in close for details. I started by looking up the place I grew up, Kochville Township. I found several Kochville maps, and by looking at them side-by-side with a modern map, was able to figure out where my house would have been and who owned the land. A family with the last name Dixon owned the land for a long time. I located the Dixons in the census, and found a farm schedule for one year that listed all the crops and animals they owned. Even though these people aren't related to me at all, I still found it fascinating to think about them walking the same land I did decades later, and to picture an old farmhouse sitting where our own house sat. When I was a kid, my cousins and I would sometimes walk around in the field behind my house and find old, broken dishes or glass bottles, old buttons, or old coins. When we came across that stuff I'd always think of the farm families and wonder what it was like living in that area back then, when it was so rural there was almost nothing but fields and you had to bury your trash to get rid of it.
I studied other maps, too, including the town I live in now, the town where my husband Jason grew up, and the neighborhood where my grandparents lived. I'd love to find old pictures someday of these areas, especially Kochville Township. If I ever do, I'll have to post them here.
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