WEBSITES: MAPS AND PHOTO SEARCH
BY KAREN HANSEN
Google Maps is a very popular site for viewing aerial maps. One useful feature is the Street View. At Google Earth, you can click on the clock icon in the middle of the toolbar. You will see a time slider that shows available historical images. Drag the slider or use the marks on the ends of the slider to see photos.
http://programs.iowadnr.gov/maps/aerials/ is a great site for finding aerial maps of property in Iowa. Put in an address and go to Basemaps. There you can zoom in and see maps from 1930, 1950, 1960, and 1970.
http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/ also has aerial maps of Iowa. Go to Map Search; enter a township and section or a city, then Show Map. Select a base map layer; maps begin in the 1930’s. Then Select a Zoom level.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shastaca/maps_index.html has county maps from U.S. states in 1914. It is fun to see what towns no longer exist in counties with which you are familiar.
www.deadfred.com is a site where you can submit family history photos and search photos by surname. My cousin was able to identify a photo of people whose identity was unknown on the site.
KH