Places and Faces

Technological issues have been causing a lot of headaches lately. So it's nice and headache-erasing when a tool comes along that reminds me of how cool, unique, and useful technological advances, such as The Internet, can be. Last week I came across such a tool: WhatWasThere, a site that matches Google Maps to uploaded historical or personal photos.

We're often getting patrons, both locals and visitors, who want photos of how things in our ancient city used to look. WhatWasThere is a good place to start before heading to the Santa Fe history books or the Palace of the Governors Photo Archive. What's also neat about this site is that it doesn't differentiate between personal and "official" history. Locales are made by the memories of those who inhabit them, so you can upload your pictures of family and friends enjoying the Fourth of July Pancakes on the Plaza and bring the personal touch to the pictorial history.

So far, there are only 4 photos when you search for "Santa Fe, NM". It's great that none of them are newer than the 1950s, but let's get uploading. Santa Fe is a photogenic city, and a memorable city, and a website like WhatWasThere seems made for us.