Maps, Maps, Maps!

Part of the fun of history and genealogy, for me anyway, is imagining what life was like for my ancestors and those around them.  The census records, death certificates, and other written evidence of our ancestor's lives are great - but I like to have something a little more tangible.  So I've gotten into the habit of creating custom Google Maps (marking locations of people and places on a real satellite image) to see the big picture of the world our ancestors lived in.  Who were their neighbors? What did their land look like? Where did they attend church and school?

I've already posted a map of the Metz Fire of 1908, which can be found a few posts down.

Another project that is very near completion and has been quite an undertaking, is the schools, churches, cemeteries, post offices, stores, and more of Presque Isle County as found on the 1903 Plat Map.

View Presque Isle County in 1903 in a larger map

The ladies from the Presque Isle GenWeb website, who have contributed so much to the project, went around taking photos of many of the sites on the map so I could add them. A photo will pop up for many of the schools, churches, and cemeteries you click on. A huge thank you goes out to BJ and Janet who helped with this!

Another project I'm just starting which is sure to be a long time coming is actually platting out all of Presque Isle and Alpena Counties - recreating the property lines of 1903 and placing markers on the exact location of the homes. So far, only Sections 1 - 12 of Belknap Township, Presque Isle are complete. Please check back periodically for new additions. On the sidebar to the left, residents are arranged by section, and if you click on a name it will take you to their home on the map. The map works best at about 2/3 of the way zoomed in.


View 1903 Belknap Twp Homesteads in a larger map

If you want to find out where your ancestor lived, but it's not on the map yet, check out Historic MapWorks which has an amazingly good zoomable scan of the 1903 Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency Plat Book I'm working from.  Please leave a comment if you have any questions, corrections, or want to find out where your ancestor lived.  I'd be glad to help!