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| 1908 Postcard - Birdseye View of North Center Street in Plymouth Indiana 1 |
Historical
postcards are a rich source for visualizing your ancestors in a historical
time. During the early 1900s, postcards featured pictures of city views, court
house, public buildings and business. Many counties have recreated and
published a historical time capsule of these images. The Marshall
County Historical Society has available The Plymouth Post Card Book which has 100 vintage postcards from Plymouth, Indiana.
If you
have an interest in Culver, Indiana, check out the genealogical website for Lake Maxinkuckee. It has some wonderful local postcards of
Culver.
To find
postcards from all over the United States, visit America as it Was: A Tour
of the US in Vintage Postcards. There you will find multiple links
to additional resources, such as the Northwest
Indiana Genealogical Society which has over 3000 images online.
Another
great place to look for historical images is on Flickr. There you will find collections
such as The Pie Shop’s Collection which has a wonderful photo sets from Indiana and other locations. My favorite is the A & W Root Beer
restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. They also have a postcard of the old Plymouth Holiday
Inn, which you are familiar with if you grew up in Plymouth, Indiana.
Also, check out Shook Photos where you can find postcards of Indiana Railroad Disasters and Indiana Tornado Disasters.
One of my favorites is the Flickr site for Hoosier Recollections'. You will see old postcards of Indiana Schools, Indiana Theatres & Opera Houses. I especially love the way the curator of
the site provides detailed views of the postcards. He also cross-referenced the
postcards with 1905 Sanborn Insurance maps to verify the exact location of the
scene depicted on the postcard. So don’t just look at the picture, make sure to
read the description under the picture for great historical content. They also
have a set of postcards just for Marshall County and some wonderful Indiana Rural Scenes.
“Indianapolis
resident Jay Small collected real photo and printed postcards. The images
depict locations across Indiana, individuals, interurban and railway stations,
bandstands, celebrations, and examples of advertising. Featured here are views
and street scenes in towns and cities. The images date from circa 1907 to the
1920s.”
But
the ultimate surprise would be to find one of these postcards was actually
written by your family member and has somehow made its way to the Internet. I
am still looking for that treasure.
Note:
To view any of these sites just click on the blue highlighted word above and your
browser will take you there.
Sources:
1) Filson family Private collection
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