PHILADELPHIA GEOHISTORY VIRTUAL TREASURE HUNT
Prepared by Avencia for DLF Forum participants
The City of Philadelphia has an amazing history filled with memorable and important people, places and events. Thanks to several organizations, that history is widely available through a number of websites that offer access to collections in a digital format.
Follow the steps below to find what these sites have to offer.
The first DLF Forum participant to email the seven correct answers to Martha Brogan (
[log in to unmask] ) will be announced and given an award at the Forum
panel on
GIS AND THE CITY on Wednesday, Nov. 7th at 11AM.
The panel will discuss the current status and aspirations for future interoperability among these projects.
STEP 1
Go to the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network.
http://www.philageohistory.org/geohistory/Using the 1861 City Directory, locate Charles Corbon who worked as a printer. What was Charles Corbon’s address?
STEP 2
Go to the Philadelphia Historic Streets Indexhttp://www.phillyhistory.org/HistoricStreets/The street that Charles Corbon lived on in 1861 has changed names several times in the last 146 years. Using the Historic Streets Index, discover the new name for the part of the street located from Front to 33rd Streets between
Oxford and
Montgomery. Hint: Type in just the street name with no avenue at the end. Hint: The name change was recorded in the year 1986. What is the new name of that portion of the street?
STEP 3
Go to PhillyHistoryhttp://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/
In the Search function on
PhillyHistory, you can search by address. Using the original name of the avenue you used in Step 2, find the building located on the corner of that avenue and
Howard Street. Hint: The photo is of an engine house. What year was that photo taken?
STEP 4Philadelphia Architects and Buildingshttp://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/There were several historic buildings located on the new avenue you found in Step 2. Using Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (you will be asked to create a login, which will take 2 seconds),
discover some of the other buildings located at the same address you used in
PhillyHistory. The third entry on the list of buildings located at that address is a church. At which intersection is the church located?
STEP 5
MuralBasehttp://cml.upenn.edu/murals/One of the many murals found around
Philadelphia is located near the building found in Step 4. In muralBase, find the mural entitled Tribute to Cecil B. Moore by Cavin Jones. The mural is classified under several themes. What is the first theme listed?
STEP 6
Mapping the DuBois Philadelphia
Negrohttp://www.mappingdubois.com/There are currently plans for a new mural that will fit within the same theme found in Step 5. The mural will feature an influential man who investigated the city in his book
The Philadelphia Negro. Where will that mural be located? Hint: Read the Community Outreach part in the Overview section on the website.
STEP 7Philadelphia Neighborhoodshttp://sceti.library.upenn.edu/PhilaNeighborhoods/The neighborhoods in
Philadelphia are constantly changing. Historically, many areas looked dramatically different after the development plans of the 1940s through 1960s. The location of the proposed mural found in Step 6 is in an area that was affected by the Washington Square Redevelopment Area Plan. Using the Philadelphia Neighborhoods website, when was that plan passed? Hint: In the “Browse the Report” tab, use the drop-down menu to reorganize the way the reports are listed to find the answer.
STEP 8
PhillyHistoryhttp://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Using the date of the Washington Square Redevelopment Area Plan found in Step 7, go to
PhillyHistory and find any photograph
from that year. What’s your favorite photograph from that year? Share the photo with a friend--or if you are the first to complete the hunt, the City of Brotherly Love will provide you will the photo print of your choice from PhillyHistory.
