This online tool maps photos of Queens’ vibrant past

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Beachgoers enjoy the waves at Rockway’s Jacob Riis Park in 1937, the year the park officially opened to the public. Photos via the NYPL.

Beachgoers enjoy the waves at Rockway’s Jacob Riis Park in 1937, the year the park officially opened to the public. Photos via the NYPL.

By Jonathan Sperling

Ever wondered what your home looked like several decades ago? How about more than a century ago?

You don’t have to wonder, thanks to a tool created by software developers working in collaboration with the New York Public Library. The tool, simply named OldNYC, is a history buff’s — and photography lover’s — best friend.

This photo, taken in 1932, shows a building containing a county court and Masonic Temple of Long Island City on Jackson Avenue.

This photo, taken in 1932, shows a building containing a county court and Masonic Temple of Long Island City on Jackson Avenue.

The site uses photographs from the NYPL’s Milstein collection, and places them at clickable points of the map through the technique of geocoding, which associates latitudes and longitudes to the photographs. The final product is an interactive time capsule that allows the user to zoom across Queens and the rest of New York City, clicking on whichever areas they are interested in seeing.

OldNYC’s creation in 2015 was a direct result of the work of Dan Vanderkam, a Brooklyn-based software developer who played a major role in the site’s launch. Fascinated with history, particularly with the history of photography, Vanderkam previously created a San Francisco version of OldNYC called — you guessed it — OldSF. 

“I’m really happy there’s so many photos from the outer boroughs on OldNYC. I think in some ways those are the most interesting because those are the areas that have changed the most, especially if you go out into more Eastern Queens,” Vanderkam told the Eagle.

“There’s some photos from where JFK is now where in the 1930s it was literally farm fields out there. It’s pretty amazing how much Queens has urbanized and built up over the last hundred years,” Vanderkam added.

A majority of the photographs were taken in the 1930s, but there are plenty of pics from the mid-to-late 1800s as well. Check out the long gone farms of Southeast Queens, the Dutch-style homes of Douglaston or just your favorite street corner.

OldNYC can also be accessed via an iOS app.

This Dutch colonial house located at the corner of West Drive and Alston Place in Douglaston, was built in 1735 by Cornelius Van Wyck. The photograph seen here was taken in 1965.

This Dutch colonial house located at the corner of West Drive and Alston Place in Douglaston, was built in 1735 by Cornelius Van Wyck. The photograph seen here was taken in 1965.