Genealogy peas- finding pictures of old homes

I went on a vacation/genealogy trip out east and visited all the places that my ancestors lived. I took photos of all the houses and/or farms that were still standing, and the places where the houses used to be if not still standing. One was a tiny house where my great great grandparents raised 15 kids! I also took photos of the churches where they were baptised and the cemeteries where they were buried. Most of my records came from those churches and they were an integral part of my ancestors lives.

Bear in mind that both house numbers and street names can change through the years. So if you ever find that a house seems to be missing, before you decide for sure that it must have been torn down, double check with the local government or historical society to be that the town wasn't given an entirely new set of street names or was re-numbered at some point.

Heck, just recently a town near me was all re-numbered. I hate that they did it. I think it's a pain now, when everyone remembers how it used to be, but it can really send you off on a wrong path if it was done 150 years ago and you don't realize it.

A good way to get a feel for if a street still exists in the same location is to check census report pages before and after your ancestor's entry and then double check google to see if all of those same streets still surround the street you are looking into.

Sometimes I've found all the neighboring streets, but not the street I wanted, and that led me to look further into things and that's when I found that a street was re-named (yay, it's still there!) or it was removed (boo! ).




my favorite story so far is that I found the building that my great-grandfather listed as the address he was heading when he arrived in the US. On the photo, I could see two surnames still etched into the building, so I looked them up and found out such a great story about how they were bankers and they owned the building and would help people from their home region make it in the new world by giving them a starting place and making sure they had what they needed to be accepted when they reached the US port. I even found a descendant of one of the bankers who was so proud of what their great-grandfather had done. It was cool to be able to extend thanks to them on behalf of my family.

I definitely add those photos to my tree. It's part of the history, so to me it belongs.

We had an old wood stove that we used for heat and cooking. Baking? I know my grandmother made bread, but I can't remember how. Maybe we had a gas stove. The addition was a separate room that we actually had cabinets, sink, refrigerator. The bathroom was off the kitchen. Before the addition, we just had 2 rooms upstairs, another room downstairs, and then a room that was the kitchen/living/bathroom when we brought in the tub.

Good times! LOL!

My mom is 77 now and the house she lived in as a child for most of her life, didn't have electricity or a bathroom when they moved in. Very poor. Lived in Kansas in the boonies. She can remember her dad working to put the electricity in when the moved in... I don't think a bathroom was added until years later. By the time I came around they were adding another bathroom/laundry room.. which basically looks like a finished sun room.

Anyways, I always have trouble pulling up her house on the internet, as it sits a little far off the main road and I do think the address has been changed.. I can't ever seem to pinpoint it down. It shouldn't be hard.. one house on a gravel highway but I guess that Google car hasn't been down that road.. lol... There also by the house is the school and church.. then nothing for miles then a bar. How's that for country living?

Wow, I found some from when there was a huge flood in the 60s.  Gorgeous areal photography of one flooded property after another.  



Save

TThank you for the link! Unfortunately, my state and county are not included yet. They are still working on it. But I gave my email so hopefully they will be done within the year. 

I have a photo of my childhood home in my facebook photos. Of course I went to retrieve it and couldn't find it. I didn't put it in an album. I've a LOT of photos!

I'm not even sure.   When I tried checking some Pennsylvania counties it said that they had some unmarked rolls, so I started looking at a bunch to see if anything looked familiar.   The problem is that it all looked like PA farmland, which could be anywhere.   I don't recall if they were listed under a particular county or not, but I know I was looking at the northeast portion of the state.
Save

I try to check church websites when I can find them as well. A lot of ties, though, I find that the church has changed names or it's gone entirely.

I try to look for cemetery websites as well, but they are harder to come by. I find historical or genealogical sites that have cemetery info, but it's very hit and miss that I find that the actual cemetery has its own website. When they do, though, they tend to be helpful or at least interesting.

And I love the cemetery websites that include maps.