Introducing the Hopewell History Map, an interactive map for exploring historical properties in Hopewell Borough, and displaying associated historical information and associated images.
This is the culmination of the initial development of the Hopewell Valley History Project – we have documents about local places (Book Archives), plus maps showing where and when structures appeared (Map Archives), plus photos and postcards of these places (Image Archives) – and now this interactive map pulls these all together to conveniently explore and search.
- About the Hopewell History Map
- Explore the Hopewell History Map (separate site)
The Hopewell History Map is a Web application built on the familiar Google Maps platform, and so has familiar map controls (pan, zoom, map type), plus additional historical property annotations displayed as street numbers. It’s designed to work in standard Web browsers, and on mobile tablets (the full-screen display is a bit too crowded for many smartphone browsers).
You can browse properties on the Map or in the Table, and then click to highlight the property simultaneously in both, plus bring up additional information and available images in the Info panel:
- Zoom in on the map to see properties annotated with street numbers
- Click a street number on the map (e.g., “12”) to see property information: on the Map, in the Table, and in the Info Panel with historical images, if available
- Blue street numbers are historical (e.g., “-15-“), and provide additional information
- Street numbers with plus signs have associated images (e.g., “+26+”), also displayed in the Info Panel
- Click in the Table to select a row of property information, which also highlights on the Map and displays in the Info panel
- Click on the left/right in the Info Panel to cycle though available images of the property
The map uses several databases: a list of all properties (street addresses) in Hopewell Boro, augmented with additional information including Block/Lot and Lat/Long, a list of historic places in Hopewell Boro, manually generated from the books and maps referenced on the site, and a list of the associated images hosted in the Image Archives.
This is an prototype designed to explore the possibilities of this kind of interface for historical information, and subject to changes. This first version only covers Hopewell Boro, and the underlying data has known issues (some lat//long locations) and is only partially implemented.
Feedback and suggestions are welcome.
