Above left is a family photo showing my late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986) and a younger brother in front of a home built by their father, master carpenter James Edgar Wood (1871-1939).
I knew the address in Cleveland Heights, thanks to postcards mailed to the family and saved for more than a century. So I did an online search for the house and presto! Up popped this street view of the very same home, still intact and recognizable.
The carpenter's descendants were very happy to see that his home was handsome enough and sturdy enough to survive for more than 100 years. I've done a similar search for other addresses where the Wood family lived and found nearly all are still standing today.
Alas, the virtual field trip doesn't work for every old address. A number of the Manhattan tenements where my immigrant ancestors lived a century ago are long gone. But at least I can click around the neighborhood, looking at schools and parks and other highlights without actually going in person.
Have you taken a virtual field trip to see where your ancestors lived?
Every time I find an address I take a virtual trip. It seems almost all the homes of my New York ancestors have become parking lots or high rise offices. One house remains in Brooklyn. The apartment building my great grandmother lived in when she first came from Ireland is still there - a beautiful brownstone.
ReplyDeleteWonderful field trip. The house looks much the same. That is a fun thing to do!
ReplyDeleteWendy, I also found that NY homes or apartment buildings had made way for parking lots or office buildings. Happy to hear your GGM's brownstone is still intact!
ReplyDeleteColleen, it's amazing how many of this Wood ancestor's homes are still looking good, a century later. Makes us proud that he build quality houses!
Thanks to you both for reading and commenting.
I did a virtual trip to MI and OH. In MI dont know if i got the right address but a picture of the road showed up. In Ohio an empty lot but is fun to look and imagine what it used to be like
ReplyDeleteMost of my paternal family came from industrial Manchester U.K. so very little remains of these areas. Even Churches and pubs(bars) are closing, although many churches remain in situ rather than being demolished. On the other hand, a lot of my wife's folks were from rural Cheshire where most cottages and farms remain.
ReplyDeleteBobbie and Michael, thank you for your comments. Sometimes the exact address isn't shown in the street view on first try, so I move around the view and look at the numbers on the buildings to check. I was in Manchester last year and saw the many repurposed factories and other buildings turned into other things. Nothing remains of where my ancestors stayed in the north during 1901-2, unfortunately.
ReplyDelete