1897 Fall River address changes....

[camgarsky4]

MB or anyone else in the know -

When I want to determine the actual location (via googlemaps) of pre-1897 addresses, I search the 1896 or '95 city directory for folks who lived at the address in question, jot down the occupants names and then search for those individuals on the 1897 FR city directory. If the street is the same, I presume it is the same location.

Was curious if I was making this more difficult than necessary. Is there a better way to identify the current address for pre-1897 locations?

Thanks for any ideas!

[mbhenty]

Yes, Camgarsky, that is basically how it is done.

If you have the specific family name you can track them through the years from place to place. However, if you are tracking, let's say, a John Sullivan in 1892, I must bid you good luck. There were many, many John Sullivans at that time. Also countless Patricks and Timothys and Marys.

So if John Sullivan lives at 22 Second Street in 1892 and no longer there in 1893, tracking down that specific John Sullivan will present a definite problem. In 1893 there were almost 100 John Sullivan's in Fall River alone. I'm happy to add that with my last name, I'm the only one in the entire country let alone the Fall River street directory. I would be easy to find.

Tracking addresses and finding out who lived at a certain address was not possible until sometime, like, 1920 and beyond. Not sure when it was possible to "crisscross" family names or address, (that is to say, find who lives at a certain address) but such directories did not exist in Fall River in the 1800s.

[camgarsky4]

Thanks!