Integrating The Family History Guide “Countries” Section with Google Earth – a winning combination for family fun!
An exciting and memorable experience is in store when you combine using Google Earth with resources found in the Countries page of The Family History Guide (see Bob Taylor’s overview here). This is so much fun that it made the “top ten favorite family history activities” list at the Anderson home!
Research your family history countries together and then gather around to use google earth for finding the homelands, towns, and cities, and even more specific details of where your ancestors once lived. You can also zero in on places living family members dwell anywhere in the world. Returned missionaries love sharing
stories as they highlight detailed imagery of the places they served. As family members pinpoint the “nooks and crannies” of their travel adventures and locate family history sites, everyone is virtually experiencing that place together. View this tutorial, to learn how to preserve your “virtual travel” by saving screenshots for future reference, to share with others, and as you do family history research using The Family History Guide’s Countries page.
Try Google Earth Street View to “walk” the streets (including any of the places found on this map). Among many other amazing options, with Google Earth you can even find a unique view of an area on a specific date of historical significance (see Eight things you can do with Google Earth). It is amazing what “seeing” the various facets of a location can do to enlarge understanding, personalize family stories, and further family history research. Long-time questions are often answered, and family history comes alive! Learn to take Google Earth screenshots of here.
Integrating what is found in The Family History Guide Countries section with Google Earth for both research and fun is definitely a winning combination that can be enjoyed again and again. Give it a try – it just may make your family’s top ten favorite activities list!
Note: This Lisa Louise Cooke podcast explains how to “Capture your family’s imagination by telling their family history story with Google Earth. See how easy it is to turn the genealogical information you’ve collected into compelling multi-media stories. These tours will help everyone in your family appreciate your genealogical research and protect as a legacy for generations to come.”
I can see why this was among the top favorites in your family, Angelle. So much fun also for revisiting former places you once lived, reliving an exotic vacation, and of course finding localities where our ancestors lived. It also supplies great armchair travel you’ve dreamed about, but will probably never visit in person. I heard from a cousin that our grandmother was buried in the hills of South Dakota and that the cemetery had essentially been abandoned. When I mentioned that we might love to visit someday she discouraged that as the place is quite invested with rattlesnakes. That did put a damper on that adventure! With Google Earth we were able to find the hills and then with Find A Grave we actually saw the marker on her grave. Good enough!
Avoiding rattlesnakes while accomplishing incredible detective work – good enough indeed! Thanks for sharing!