Thursday, January 2, 2014

Why use Google Earth for Genealogy???

Genealogy Through Google Earth                       by Eric Stitt


We all know that Genealogy and Family research doesn't always happen in your back yard.  We can’t just get in the car and drive across the states to visit the old homestead, and I know I’ll be camped out in line when we figure out time travel.  But what if you could visit that old homestead or scroll back in time when your neighborhood was an old farm field, Google Earth can do that. 

Using geographic information found in Deeds and addresses from sources such as Census data, property where ancestors and neighbors once lived may be marked on historical maps, which can then be overlaid on modern Google maps. Geographic features mentioned in property descriptions such as rivers and creeks will appear on topographical maps and in Google’s satellite imagery. Using this information, it is possible to locate a family homestead on an historical map and compare the changes to those locations that have occurred over time as the area developed. In some instances, the old home may still be there or a family cemetery.

How many times have you found a source that quotes your family member is buried in Sec D, Row 12, Lot 52 and then turn around and still have to hunt through 100’s of tombstones just to find them?  In Google Earth we can make place markers to pin point your family member with GPS, and then you can print out a map for other family members to use next Memorial Day.

In Google Earth for Genealogy you can learn to do all these things.  Making your family stories really come to life with 3D models and giving your family a God's eye view of your families history.  

Check out www.earth.google.com/ to download Google Earth for yourself.

6 comments:

  1. Eric,

    I want to let you know that your blog is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/01/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-january-10.html

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Thank you Jana, hope to be able to return the favor someday.

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  2. As a sample use of my Kamelopard KML library, I downloaded a bunch of my own family history from FamilySearch.org, and wrote a program to display the migration of my ancestors over the past 10 generations or so, in a Google Earth tour. It didn't work terribly well, and only took into account birth and death locations, but it was fun to watch.

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    1. That really sounds interesting Joshua. I'm not good enough to write a program to automate my families migration but I have started a project where I am tracing thier path and writing time stamps into the KML. Its very cool to look at as they cross the country.

      Thanks for checking out my blog and stay tuned for more in the future.

      Eric

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  3. Over at http://www.runningreality.org we're showing changing national borders, city growth, battles, armies, ships, battles, etc over time from 3000BC to today -- literally any day in history. We're a small project team, but as we get data filled in it shows the nations as they were when our ancestors were living in them. We can't match Google Earth for today's cities, but we do pretty good for 1800AD, 1700AD, and before.

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    1. Thanks Garth, I will check it out. Going back to BC will take some time researching LOL, but being able to see things change over the last 500 years would be really benificial.

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