Sentimentality and Google Maps
Posted in Personal Stuff by John E. Pannell on September 2nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm 
Pratt Ave. Home
I’m afraid: My septugenarian mother tipped me off about something on the internet. It’s time for a trip down memory lane.
Google has been rapidly increasing their street view coverage in Google Maps. My mom was looking up some old addresses. Three of them are now covered by “street view”. One of them is the first home I can remember living in, in The Bronx. For those who might be interested, it’s shown here.
This was a two family home that we lived in prior to April, 1972. We had the bottom floor and the landlord and his wife lived above. The landlord like to keep it cool, so we later called this the “Old Cold House”. At the front, left side in this picture, was a enclosed porch where my father built my first model railroad one Christmas Eve.
This was the house where my (then about 3 year old) brother learned I could not catch him when he decided to jump off the top of our bunk beds, resulting in a trip to the hospital for several stitches on his ear. To this day, I am no good at catching things thrown at me!
The house hasn’t changed that much in the 36 years since we left. The facade has been replaced: I remember a darker stone. Some of the trees are long since gone. The one there had to have been planted since we left as it doesn’t look old enough.
I surprised my Mom by how much I could remember. In fact I pointed out she was originally showig me the wrong house! I remember what neighbors lived where, especially those who had children my age that were early friends that I have long since lost contact with.
There is one woman my mom still has contact with from that neighborhood, whose son was a friend of mine and whose daughter was my babysitter. She still lives in the same home and is now a great-grandmother.
More remarkably my Mom also found the apartment building she lived in as a child and the first home her parents bought in Yonkers, probably about 65 years ago. Both are still there and largely unchanged.
The world is a very different place than 36 … or 65! … years ago, but some things don’t change.
(Neither my currrent home, nor the home in which I grew up, are covered by “Street View”.)
Not only is my apartment covered by street view, but my car is visible parked right outside the building.
Wow. Looking at the coverage map, it’s like they INTENTIONALLY skipped Burlington or something.