One of my challenges from the Genea Blogger Games was to find a new genealogy blog, then leave a comment. This seemed like a pretty easy thing to do until I realized that their were a gazillion genealogy blogs!
At first, I roamed the web aimlessly. I thought I might find a blog related to Hawaii, Azores, or the San Francisco Bay Area that I could find something interesting on. I didn’t have any luck. It reminded me that there aren’t that many people researching in Hawaii and California. At least, they aren’t writing about their research.
I decided to go to Randy Seaver’s website as he always has recommendations. I found an article referenced for the Ancestor Search Blog. I clicked on the link and read the article on Zillow.com, a real estate website that might help genealogists find ancestral homes.
I went to Zillow.com and looked for E. 25th Street in Oakland, CA. What a surprise! I’ve been researching this street using Google Street View. I’m working on matching photographs to addresses and then to the relatives who lived there.
The house at 1948 E. 25th Street left me scratching my head. I could not decide if the house was turn of the century or a more modern replacement. I found that house in Zillow! And, guess what, it was built in 1906. It’s the original building, though perhaps renovated.
My relatives lived there ca 1920-1930. In the 1930 Census the houses on that street were valued at about $2000-$3000. I wonder what my ancestors would think if they knew their humble abode was now going for over $300,000 bucks!
I absolutely had to leave a comment to let the blog owner know that they had made my day. Knowing that this house is from the early 1900s helps me to date some of the other houses I wasn’t sure of.
A challenge met and I learned something in the process.
