Here’s a link to my georectified map, which is a map of Northfield as it was in about 1855.
I don’t know if this project really “changed my perspective” on spatial DH projects; it was certainly interesting to see how older, physical maps can interact with new digital ones, however! I just don’t know if it challenged my old thinking in any way. It is a good reminder that maps are not immutable facts, but rather a depiction of the world at a certain time, refracted through the cultural lens of whoever was in charge of creating it. Northfield today looks remarkably similar to how it did in 1855, but there are certainly changes (e.g. the highway! Bridges!), and it’s important to remember that the old map was created from the perspective of a European(-descended) settler; a map that took a Native American perspective into consideration may have had a slightly different emphasis. I realize, though, that I’m at the very beginning of seeing how georectification works, so I’m still interested in seeing how other projects have used it to build out their datasets! It’s almost guaranteed that my perspective will be broadened.
In terms of future possibilities with this map now that it’s georectified, it could be fascinating to add points relating to different businesses, establishments, or plots of land and track their progression. The old map that I used doesn’t have a whole lot of information on this, but it does label land tracts, so I wonder if there could be a way to cross-reference those with a source of some kind that tracked ownership or land usage. It could also be intriguing to see if there’s an “intermediate” map or maps that depict a similar area that I could use to fill in the temporal gaps. For instance, Carleton College doesn’t exist yet on this map; it would be great to see how the college slowly (or not so slowly!) sprung up and how it changed the character of the city.
