Mike Williams <nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> The Maps API tutorial got so popular that it broke the bandwidth limits
> and had to be moved to a different ISP:
>
> http://econym.googlepages.com/index.htm
>
> The XML file is here:
>
> http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/family/familymap.xml
>
> I found that the hard part was actually finding the locations. Since
> much of the data was collected from hand written do***ents, some of
> which are over 200 years old, there are transcription errors. Some of
> the original information was obtained from illiterate individuals and
> uses strange spelling. Many of the streets no longer exist. Some of the
> towns have changed their names, e.g. "Layton with Warbreck" is now
> "Blackpool". Some of the county boundaries have changed, e.g. modern
> geocoders can't find "Bowness, Westmorland" because it's now
> in ***bria.
Thank you, Mike. I'll study those references. I have most of my
locations, so that's not a problem for me. I agree that getting them is
not easy but I've make it part of my work routine to get location
information whenever I do family history research. I agree that one
has to always be on the lookout for changing names and boundaries. One
of the worst cases of confusion I've ever come across is in Canton, OH,
USA. The city of Canton has always had numbered streets, like 3rd Street
NE, etc. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the City changed the
street that separated the North streets from the south Streets. This
created a situation where one of my family landmarks that was located on
E. 2nd ST. is now on 5th St. NE. The building didn't move of course.
What happened is that all the numbered street names changed. I'm sure
there must be people working with Canton locations even now that don't
know this and think that an address from the 19th century still matches
the same current address. It doesn't. Always expect the unexpected with
family history is my motto. :)
|
