Events such as the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and attractions such as the Liberty Bell have put Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the map, but the geographic fabric of the city is more than a maze of national historic sites. Philadelphia, like many metropolises, is a spider web of districts, neighborhoods, streets, buildings and houses. Since the invention of the photograph, Philadelphians in particular have documented the evolution of their city well with visual memories. Philadelphia's history and geographical changes can now be visualized via a Web site that combines the city's impressive and ever changing urban landscape with its colorful past, revealing where life happened and what it was like.

Until recently an estimated two million photos, dating back to the mid 1800s, have been stored in thousands of boxes at the Philadelphia City Archives, managed by the City of Philadelphia's Department of Records (DoR). Except for a handful of images published in books, the photographs were not easily accessible to the public. Moreover, while most of them had been processed and catalogued by year and by the city department that had taken them (i.e., Streets Department, Water Department, Department of City Transit, etc.), they were not easily searchable either. Many were also deteriorating quickly. The solution to the archiving and preservation dilemma was right around the corner, literally. Philadelphia-based Avencia, Inc., a geospatial analysis firm already involved in numerous city neighborhood revitalization projects, had a picture-perfect plan.

Using a Web server-based GIS application, Avencia worked with the City to create a Web-based digital asset management system that enables employees of the DoR and Public History interns working at the archives to upload images, enter metadata, and assign map coordinates to each via a flexible geocoding function. The system is also used to manage, update, and record metadata pertaining to each image. The result is PhillyHistory.org, a geographically searchable Web site that enables the public to search for photos by address, intersection, location, keywords, category, or historic date with search results displaying thumbnail images, descriptive information, and map location. The popular Philadelphia Historic Street Name Index component of the site is a tool that matches former street names to their current names, making it easier for historians and researchers to find current addresses of historic buildings or residences they might come across in their research.

Since June, 2005, when PhillyHistory.org went live, the interns and employees of the DoR have uploaded more than 41,800 images at a rate of approximately 2,000 per month. The Web site attracts thousands of unique visitors each month and an e-commerce module supports funding of the project through the sale of prints and digital photos. The Web site has evolved since its initial launch with the additions of The PhillyHistory Blog written by historians and the interns working at the archives and a bi-monthly newsletter.

PhillyHistory has also just launched a mobile version of the Web site and is now accessible from most cell phones, handheld computers and other mobile devices at PhillyHistory Mobile. This innovative mobile Web site has a simple search screen in which one can enter an address or intersection of nearby historic or cultural sites. The resulting display returns a list of sites, photos and maps. PhillyHistory Mobile can serve any pedestrian curious to see what their surroundings used to look like; the tourism industry eager to organize historic tours of the city; and teachers who are interested in making their history curricula more interactive.

                                                             

PhillyHistory.org is so well-received by the "City of Brotherly Love," that it was awarded a "Best of Philly 2007" award for "Best Local Website" by Philadelphia Magazine. It also received a 2007 "Exemplary Systems in Government Distinguished System" award from URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association). In August the Art Institute of Philadelphia opened "Philadelphia Stories: The Building of a Great American City," an exhibit of more than 80 images borrowed from what was once an archiving nightmare stored away in boxes.

Thanks to GIS, that problem is history.