Remember Fold-Out Paper Maps?

In the "good ol' days," before smartphone digital apps directed us along precise routes to our destinations, we had digital maps we could view using MapQuest or Google Maps or some such web-based system (using our laptops or desktop computers).  Some of us remember the even further-back "gooder ol' days" (apologies for being ungrammatical for the sake of a laugh) when people used paper maps.  You know, the kind that you'd unfold, stare at blankly, then struggle to refold correctly.

"You Are Here .."  Where's That, Now?

Perhaps paper maps have gone the way of the dinosaurs, but they can be valuable historical documents, as they're a snapshot-in-time of the way a place used to look (at least on a map).  There are old streets that may no longer exist or have been renamed.  Routes may have changed, or new highways constructed.  Advertisers place the map in time, too.

The Mooresville Chamber of Commerce produced a paper map that they distributed (ca. 2005) that shows Mooresville, Indiana as it looked then.  There are a few copies floating around, but we've digitized one so you can see it online.  Click the image below.

The reverse side of the paper map shows Morgan County, Indiana.

 

If you have a paper copy of this map, tuck it away safely for your great-great-grandchildren to look at a century from now.  Mooresville will undoubtedly look quite different.  It certainly has changed significantly since a century ago.

 

Enhancing the Digital Footprints of Library Local History/Genealogy Departments

At one time, public libraries determined their overall effectiveness in serving the public based upon door count, i.e., the number of persons entering the building.  With the advent of online history and genealogical resources, increasing numbers of people are using the Internet (rather than visiting their local libraries) to conduct their genealogical research or to learn about their communities' histories.

How, then, does a library reach patrons who don't physically visit the facility?  Many libraries have found social media as their new pathway to patrons.  Videos, podcasts, blogs, and posts to such social media sites as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and others have become effective mechanisms to reach a new, different audience than those coming through the library doors.

These two slideshows, along with a handout (links below), summarize some of the resources available for history/genealogy librarians to use in creating a digital footprint.

• Short Slideshow
• Long Slideshow
• Handout

Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library has several videos on YouTube to illustrate how local history may be brought alive visually.  Watch this playlist to learn more.

 

Indiana Room at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library 

(MPL Website's Digital Indiana Room Available Here)

 

Digitized Mooresville (Indiana) High School Yearbooks

Click the links below to see digitized vintage Mooresville High School (MHS) yearbooks, courtesy of the Mooresville High School Alumni Association Facebook page.

• 1909 Senior Annual
• 1911 ‘Levenite
• 1914 The Argos
• 1917 The ’17 Packet
• 1920 The Cauldron
• 1923 White Lick Review
• 1925 White Lick Review
• 1930 Arch Wisdom

 

More recent digitized MHS yearbooks, called Wagon Trails, are also available (click links below), courtesy of OCI Digital Imaging Service and Mooresville Public Library.  (NOTE:  For yearbooks 1950 or later, to search for a name or word within a yearbook, you should download it and open it using Firefox, Google Chrome, Adobe Acrobat, SumatraPDF, or another PDF reader software; then use the “find” search function to look for the desired name or word, and it should take you to the place(s) in the yearbook where those terms are found.)

 

Click here to see the digitized yearbooks on the Mooresville Public Library website.

President Reagan's Visit to Mooresville, Indiana (June 19, 1985)

Long-time residents may well remember June 19, 1985, when President Ronald Reagan visited Mooresville, Indiana.  The Mooresville Chamber of Commerce published a commemorative book about the event, which we have digitized and you may read online.  Just click the following link below:

• President Reagan’s Visit (June 19, 1985): A Commemorative Remembrance (1985).  Mooresville, IN:  Chamber of Commerce, Mooresville, Indiana.
• Click to view PDF document

The book is also available to checkout from our Evergreen Indiana catalog.

1985 photos courtesy of timvp.com/mville.html