HistoryForge

HistoryForge HistoryForge is an innovative digital history project combining maps, census records, & photographs. HistoryForge.net is an evolving digital history project.

Our pilot project began in 2016 and focuses on exploring the history of Ithaca, New York in the late 19th and early 20th century using interactive search functions which allow users to find information on historic maps about people and places. HistoryForge is open source and is being designed so that it could be adapted by any community with historical maps and untapped information resources such

as the census. Development and refinement continue as time and resources allow. Our goal is the development of a full-featured web environment that will provide a new way of exploring local history. Search results display on background layers of historical maps—engineering maps from the 1890’s and fire insurance maps from 1910 and 1920—all at a scale that clearly shows the footprints of individual buildings. With the dynamic opacity slider on the Map It function you’re able to uncover the historical layers of a much earlier Ithaca. The displayed records give you new insights into neighborhoods and how they changed. Using the powerful HistoryForge search engine the information can be filtered and sorted to generate a thousand stories –stories of individuals, families, ethnic and occupational groups and much more! We are working on adding to the digital records and refining the search and mapping functions on the site itself. Help us improve HistoryForge by becoming a volunteer - Learn more at thehistorycenter.net/historyforge-volunteer

HistoryForge is generously supported by a two-year grant for Public Engagement with Historical Records from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives.

Welcome to our newest HistoryForge in Cortland, NY, brought to you by the fine folks at the Cortland County Historical S...
05/31/2024

Welcome to our newest HistoryForge in Cortland, NY, brought to you by the fine folks at the Cortland County Historical Society!

Have a knack for deciphering hard-to-read cursive? Then we need you!
Help us transcribe the 1910 census to add to our HistoryForge database! By combining historic maps and photos with census records of the people who lived in Cortland County, we can create a unique way to visualize the history of our community in the early 1900s

Don't miss this Saturday's information session!
Event details here: https://fb.me/e/6P7MxriPb

HistoryForge is FRONT PAGE NEWS!
04/18/2024

HistoryForge is FRONT PAGE NEWS!

Check out HistoryForge in the Ithaca Times! Local history starts with you, and you, and you! First Ithaca, then the worl...
04/18/2024

Check out HistoryForge in the Ithaca Times! Local history starts with you, and you, and you! First Ithaca, then the world... !

Read April 17, 2024 by Ithaca Times on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

04/11/2024
04/03/2024
04/03/2024

Gotcha! Just making sure your calendar is marked for the 2024 eclipse on MONDAY APRIL 8TH!

This Ithaca Journal article was published on November 21st 1919. The 1919 eclipse was a partial eclipse, and the first that had happened locally for over a decade.

Did you know that with our HistoryForge platform you can access the records of all residents living in the City of Ithaca in 1920? Records were taken only a few months after this fall eclipse. Explore at: https://tompkins.historyforge.net/census/1920

Learn more about “The Home” with Historic Ithaca below.
03/06/2024

Learn more about “The Home” with Historic Ithaca below.

Check out Historic Ithaca and The History Center in Tompkins County for more!
03/01/2024

Check out Historic Ithaca and The History Center in Tompkins County for more!

212 Cascadilla Street is currently a multi-family frame building with a stone foundation. We do not have the exact year this building was built but what we can see thanks to the map layers in HistoryForge is that the building was not on the 1866 map of the City of Ithaca and by the 1872 A.G. Bardin Map of Ithaca a building is there. The 1882 Bird’s Eye view of Ithaca shows the house as it appeared at that time. It was originally built in the Italianate style and the Colonial Revival front porch was added sometime between the 1910 Sanborn Fire Atlas Map of Ithaca and the 1919 Sanborn..

In the early 1900s a number of Black families lived in this neighborhood. 212 Cascadilla has a long history of historically significant Black families living under its roof. Present day 212 Cascadilla features two historical markers. One sign commemorates Tuskegee Airman Verdelle Payne and the other Roots author Alex Haley. Haley was born in the home and lived there for 6 weeks as an infant but was never registered on the census as living there. It is not common for one home to have multiple markers.

Special thanks to the incredible support from South Central Regional Library Council.Their grant allowed the digitization of Historic Ithaca's tax photograph index cards to become a reality.

02/08/2024
02/08/2024
Our pilot site in Tompkins County, NY is starting a year long social media collaboration between The History Center in T...
02/08/2024

Our pilot site in Tompkins County, NY is starting a year long social media collaboration between The History Center in Tompkins County and their non-profit partner Historic Ithaca.

Each month the two organizations are choosing a particular block in the City of Ithaca and sharing stories discovered on HistoryForge about buildings, businesses, people, industry, and neighborhood demographics. Follow along on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag !

Explore on your own at tompkins.historyforge.net. User manuals to help solve your history questions available at historyforge.net/setup

Every Monday moving forward, we're taking a trip down memory lane with Tompkins HistoryForge. We’re teaming up with The History Center in Tompkins County to bring you new posts weekly that highlight the people and places that make our area unique. To kick us off we present 210 Center Street – our present Historic Ithaca offices and library, the former Red & White neighborhood grocery store.

You can join in on the fun! Explore Tompkins HistoryForge at tompkins.historyforge.net and check out the for a brief tutorial on YouTube and Reels on using this database effectively.

Special thanks to the incredible support from South Central Regional Library Council.Their grant allowed the digitization of Historic Ithaca's tax photograph index cards to become a reality. Grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities supported the expansion of the Tompkins HistoryForge project since 2022.

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Cortland, NY
13045

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