More
ways in which I find older sites to detect.
Try this
web site.. http://george.peabody.yale.edu/gnis/
Under
"Enter some place of interest above" Type in park, or school, or
post office, or stage coach, or picnic, or fairground or abandoned. DO
NOT USE PLURALS, like "schools", just type in the singular, "school."
Fill out the rest of the info on the area that interest you.
It
then goes on to give you the Lat and Long to enter into your GPS as well
as the name of the USGS Quadrangle map where the site is located. Try putting
in names that would have been used a hundred years ago. It wasn't a road
it was a TRAIL. Or even just type in HISTORIC, ABANDONED or RUIN.
~~~~~~~~~~
Get
on ebay and type in the search engine, your city and state. You will most
likely come up with old postcards people are selling that have pics from
way back when. I found a kick ass spot near me this way. I saw a picture
postcard of a park taken back in 1919. I printed the pic off ebay and took
it with me. Where the people hang out today is often quite different
from back then. Big rocks and landmarks remain and you go from there, comparing
your picture to the actual site today. Ebay has been very good to me so
far.
~~~~~~~~~~
The
GPS software Oziexplorer allows you to calibrate just about any scale (or
close-to-scale) map into it. For example, I'll scan in an old historical
atlas and a modern topo map of the same area and search through the older
maps at higher zoom levels until I find something interesting. Then there's
a feature which allows you to see what other maps exist for the location
where the cursor is. By selecting the more modern map(s) at this
location you can usually zero right in on the exact location (ie topo map
may show a building or the lack of a building, etc).
Even
though the older maps may not be "exactly" to scale ... after all they
didn't have modern surveying equipment and satellites, etc ... , they usually
are close enough to give you useful information. In addition, you can flip
rapidly back-and-forth between views, or open two views at the same time
to view simultaneously, to get a feeling of how things have changed, etc.
Once
you've located a potential site, you then insert a waypoint which can later
be downloaded into your GPS so you can do further infield research, get
permission, etc.
Play
around. By spring you will have plenty of places that need to be checked
out!
What
a great hobby and what a great country!! 
.
Jim Vokes |
