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Using Geohistory to uncover Drexel history

May 4, 2010

A researcher contacted us recently to ask about local businesses or institutions that used to exist on the present site of Drexel's campus. Fortunately, there is a fine online tool for discovering the geographic history of Drexel and the city beyond: the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network (GPGN). If you'd like to see what Philadelphia used to look like (particularly our little corner of West Philly) check it out! A particularly nice feature is the interactive map viewer, which lets you layer old maps and atlases over today's street maps. G. W. Bromley's 1895 Philadelphia Atlas shows that the Main Building faced the Junction Car Works, which built railroad cars. That's an appropriate coincidence, given Anthony J. Drexel's longtime business connections with the railroad industry. What will you discover on the Philly Geo History network?
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