Historypin is a digital,

user-generated User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's users to create content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testimonials, and software (e.g. video ...

archive of historical photos, videos, audio recordings and personal recollections. Users are able to use the location and date of their content to "pin" it to

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

. Where

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

is available, users can overlay historical photographs and compare it with the contemporary location. This content can be added and explored online. There were formerly a series of smartphone applications, but these were all discontinued as of 2015. The project was created by the non-profit company Shift (formerly We Are What We Do), as part of their inter-generational work, with initial funding and support from

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

as part of a series of commitments to

digital inclusion Digital inclusion involves the activities necessary to ensure equitable access to and use of information and communications technologies for participation in social and economic life including for education, social services, health, social, and co ...

. The website has over 200,000 assets and recollections "pinned" to the Historypin map around the world, with higher contributions in the UK, USA and Australia. The beta version of the website launched in June 2010 at the Royal Institute in London by Nick Stanhope, CEO of Shift and the full project was launched at the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

in July 2011, with special guest speakers including Martin Luther King III and Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig. The project was acquired by the non-profit Shift Collective in 2019. Since its founding, the project has raised over $9 million in funding to support community history projects around the world.

Contributors

As well as

user-generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...

, material is added to the site from museums, local history societies, historical photo archives, newspaper archives and businesses. Contributors include Biggleswade History Society, Bishopsgate Institute,

John Lewis Partnership John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company that operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose supermarkets, financial services and a build to rent operation. The public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

, Mirrorpix,

New York Transit Museum The New York Transit Museum (also called the NYC Transit Museum) is a museum that displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, MTA Regional Bus Operations, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan ...

, PhillyHistory.org, The Ritz Hotel,

Baltimore Museum of Industry The Baltimore Museum of Industry is a museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Located in an old cannery complex, the museum has exhibits on various types of manufacturing and industry from the early 20th century. There are several hands-o ...

and the Science & Society Picture Library and the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum located adjacent to Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. The museum shows modern art and contemporary art. It is directly opposite Buff ...

References

External links

Historypin

Historypin Schools' Toolkit

Historypin FAQ

Shift

Shift Collective
{{Google Maps navbox Google Maps Street view services Digital photography Photo archives in the United States Internet properties established in 2010