Here’s the First Presbyterian Church in Liverpool, NY,
first in April, 1924 and then in November of 2007:

Here’s downtown McGraw, NY,
first in [...]]]> Once again, I’m walking along the virtual street in Google Maps and comparing our photographs on New York Heritage to the modern day streetviews.

Here’s the First Presbyterian Church in Liverpool, NY,
first in April, 1924 and then in November of 2007:

Here’s downtown McGraw, NY,
first in the early 1900s and then in 2009:

The Sanborn Map Company (still in existence today) was one of several companies who sold atlases in the 19th and 20th centuries specifically for the purpose of assessing fire [...]]]> There are thousands and thousands of great maps on NYHeritage, but I especially like two from Northern New York because they’re Sanborn Fire Insurance maps.

The Sanborn Map Company (still in existence today) was one of several companies who sold atlases in the 19th and 20th centuries specifically for the purpose of assessing fire insurance risk.  Insurance companies needed to assess details like building material, building density, facility use, nearby fire hydrants, and more in order to figure out rates to charge for fire insurance coverage.

These maps were large scale, at 50 feet to 1 inch (a scale of 1:600), and full of information that frequently changed.  To keep up the accuracy of the atlases, the company mailed out corrections with instructions to paste over existing maps.   As a result, someone looking at a Sanborn map today can see the growth of a city illustrated by the paste-in corrections, as seen here in the 1926 map of Potsdam:

These maps are interesting to anyone familiar with the city, but they can also be a treasure trove of information for genealogists.  Consider that you may know the address of your ancestor, and maybe even the company he or she worked for in Plattsburgh in 1902.  You can trace the kind of commute your ancestor would have had!  The detail of these atlases brings the past to life: the parks, the streets, the businesses, and, of course, the fire hydrants.

Glenwood Cemetery, Geneva, NY

With the fantastic new Stereograph Card Collection of Geneva from the Geneva Historical Society, I felt inspired to make more gifs! I can’t get enough of them, even if they sometimes make me a little sea-sick.

Glenwood Cemetery, Geneva, NY

North Presbyterian Church, Geneva, NY

North Presbyterian Church, Geneva, NY

Unidentified Street Scene, Geneva, NY

New First Presbyterian Church, Geneva, NY

First Presbyterian Church, Geneva, NY

Take this image from the fantastic Buffalo Olmsted Parks Postcards & Stereo Views collection:

Right click the image and select “copy image.” In Photoshop, create a [...]]]> The last post got a lot of responses (and we do love an adoring public), so now we’ll share the secret to our stereoscopic animations.

Take this image from the fantastic Buffalo Olmsted Parks Postcards & Stereo Views collection:

Right click the image and select “copy image.” In Photoshop, create a new file and paste the image:

Using the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (or “Boxy Select Tool,” as I like to call it), select the first half of the stereoscopic image:

Copy this (CTRL + C), open a new file in Photoshop (it will be the right size by default), and paste it in (CTRL + V):

Return to your stereoscopic image file in Photoshop. Move the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (AKA “Boxy Select Tool”) over to the second half of the image:

Copy this (CTRL + C) and paste it (CTRL + V) on top of your other half in the second file. Click to open your Layers panel (on the right side). You should see the two halves, each with its own layer:

In the Layers panel, you can adjust the opacity of one layer at a time. This is helpful for lining up the two halves of the stereoscopic image. Select a layer (it’ll be blue in the panel when it’s selected), and reduce the opacity to about 50%. Then you can move the layer around on top of the first layer to line up the outline. Don’t line up the contents of the two halves, or you’ll defeat the purpose of the stereoscope!

After adjusting the placement of your top (second) layer, return the opacity to 100%. In the main menu, under Window, click Animation. This will bring up a new tool panel called Animation. You can see the frames of an animation as you build it. You begin with one. Click the icon to create a new frame:

Having created a new frame, remove visibility for your top layer. This is done by clicking the little eye icon in the layer panel:

Now you have two frames in your animation panel. One shows the bottom layer and one shows the top layer. By default, the frames are set at 0 seconds each. Click on the frame in the animation panel and select 0.1 sec or 0.2 sec. Do this for both frames:

In the animation panel, you can press the play button for a preview of your GIF!

In Photoshop’s main menu, go up to File -> Save for Web & Devices. Click Save on this new window:

You now have an animated GIF of your sterescopic card!

Inspired by the New York Public Library’s Stereogranimator (http://stereo.nypl.org/), we’ve created a few animated stereographs from the collections on New York Heritage!

Stereoscopic cards were precursors to the iconic View Master toy.  Users slid the stereograph into a viewer and looked at each half of the image with a different eye, causing an [...]]]>

Inspired by the New York Public Library’s Stereogranimator (http://stereo.nypl.org/), we’ve created a few animated stereographs from the collections on New York Heritage!

Stereoscopic cards were precursors to the iconic View Master toy.  Users slid the stereograph into a viewer and looked at each half of the image with a different eye, causing an optic illusion of depth because each separate image was taken from a slightly different angle.

You might not be able to spot the subtle differences between the two halves of this stereographic image, Burial Mound of the Seneca Indians at the Old Castle, Kanadesaga, (Geneva, N.Y.) from 1879:

But by layering these two halves on top of each other and animating the result into a gif, we can produce a similar result:

Here are some other examples at work:


Image shows stereograph postcard with view of Ivy Arch bridge in Delaware Park with flower beds and a well maintained carriage road underneath the bridge, circa 1905-1910.

The oldest church bell in Western New York State west of Utica. Cast at Gibbonsville, (now West Troy) N.Y. June 1819. Hung in the First Presbyterian Church steeple, Geneva. Nov. 1819.

Another alternative to the GIF is a javascript animation, explained here: http://sunpig.com/martin/archives/2005/12/12/wiggle-stereoscopy-a-new-approach.html

This collection includes hundreds and hundreds of photographic portraits [...]]]> The battle of Antietam ended 150 years ago today, and to honor the memory of those who served, we will highlight some of the fantastic images from the New York State Military Museum collection on New York Heritage.

This collection includes hundreds and hundreds of photographic portraits of Civil War soldiers.  These portraits have been cross referenced with the American Civil War Research Database, which aggregated information from State Rosters, census records, award records, pension records, and more.   As a result, each portrait in the  New York State Military Museum collection has a brief glimpse into that soldier’s life.  Here are a few who served in Antietam.

Aaron Rhodes, pictured left, was 18 when he enlisted in Poughkeepsie, NY, in 1862.  He was wounded 150 years ago at Antietam, but did survive the war, being discharged on March 11th, 1865 (3 years after mustering in).

Abner Doubleday is pictured to the right with his wife, Mary.  He was already a veteran, having first joined the army in 1842 after graduating from West Point.  He had fought in the Mexican war and Seminole war, and was at Fort Sumter when that first battle of the Civil War began in April of 1861.   As General, he commanded troops at Antietam, opening the battle in favor of the North and capturing six battle flags.   Ten months later, his division was crucial in pushing back Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg, sending the Southern troops into retreat.  He retired in 1873 and died twenty years later in Mendham, New Jersey.

The Battle of Antietam is most famous because it was the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history.  Over 23,000 men died that day, 3,765 of whom were from the state of New York.

George B. Force, top left, enlisted in Rochester at the age of 30.  He was commissioned into the Field & Staff NY 108th Infantry on September 9th, 1862, and died in Antietam just 8 days later.  William Evans, top center, enlisted in Utica at the age of 21 in August of 1861.  He was killed in Antietam and buried in the Antietam National Cemetery at gravesite #687.  The dour looking Jesse Everett Stevens, top right, might have been guessing his fate when this portrait was taken.  He enlisted on August 6th in Elmira, and died in Antietam less than two months later.

These three men above, Charles N. Crawford, Charles M. Smith, and  David Myers, were all wounded on September 17th, 1862 at Antietam.  All three died, but not immediately.    Myers died a week later, Smith died on October 12th, and poor Crawford died of his wounds on October 27th, 40 days later.   One must pity them for the last days and weeks of their lives; they were surely in agony.

This image is of a souvenir paperweight with an albumen silver photographic print [...]]]> The Albany Institute of History & Art was founded in 1791, making it one of the oldest museums in the country. They have over one million items representing the broad history and culture of the upper Hudson Valley area.

This image is of a souvenir paperweight with an albumen silver photographic print inside. Albumen prints were one of the first methods for producing prints onto paper from a negative. This paperweight dates back to the 1860s and shows the famous Catskill Mountain House of Palenville, NY. The Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a hotel perched over the Hudson River Valley with beautiful panoramic views. Prominent visitors during the second half of the 19th century made the hotel very fashionable, but the Catskills were eventually replaced by the Adirondacks as the preferred destination for the New York elite. The hotel fell into disrepair into the 20th century and was burned down by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1962.

This image shows part of the region a century later. Mike’s-NEBA shop, predecessor to the Mr. Subb chain [source], was located on the corner of Colvin and Central Streets in Albany. According to several locals, Mike Dence owned a sub shop and named the addition after his dog, Neba. There were multiple locations of the beloved chain around the upper Hudson Valley region.

Be sure to check out the other great images from the Albany Institute of History & Art!