DejaViews.org

In the exact spot you're sitting...

People lived, worked, played and died.

Entire generations came and went. But what do we know about any of that today? In most cases, nothing. Each day we walk over the same ground where tragedies, victories, or just mundane events took place, yet we're completely ignorant of anything we didn't see with our own eyes.

We'll never see the world exactly as they did, but thanks to photography, a few glimpses have been preserved. So what do the locations in those photographs look like today? That's the whole idea of this website.

Tracking down historic photograph locations and recreating the images isn't always easy. Even the largest landmarks come and go over decades, and camera equipment has changed a bit in the past 150 years. But my goal is to get as close as possible, and hopefully broaden the perspective of anyone walking over these spots today.

North Carolina State University

The majority of my work so far has focused on the campus of N.C. State in Raleigh, North Carolina. There are plenty of historic photos to choose from, and many of the buildings still exist. If nothing in the photo stands today, there are surveyor's maps and aerial shots to work from.

N.C. State is a moderately old school(for America, at least), opening in 1889. Over the years the campus has expanded to 30,000 students over a sprawling 2,100 acre main campus, a newly created 1,120 acre "Centennial Campus" and an additional 100,000 acres of farms and research facilities.

That kind of expansion has enveloped plenty of other historic sites, like the ruins of the Catholic Orhpanage at Nazareth, currently sitting directly adjacent to a main entrance to Centennial campus, waiting to be paved over for additional parking. Thousands drive past it each day without the slightest clue that a massive campus of buildings once stood there.

NCSU - Then and Now

Raleigh, NC

Raleigh is relatively unique in that it was created for the sole purpose of being a state capital. Before 1792, there wasn't much here. The location for Raleigh was chosen just because it was close to legislators' favorite tavern.

Fortunately, that means that there is a photographic record of almost the entire history of the city. Unfortunately, virtually none of the city's early buildings remain. In many cases, a single piece of ground has seen a half dozen buildings and generations come and go. Here are the ones I've tracked down so far.

Raleigh - Then and Now

Other Sites

As time permits I plan to gradually expand my focus to other sites in the Triangle area. If you have a historic image you'd like to see photographed again today, please don't hesitate to contact me. Or, better yet, contribute your own Then and Now style photos and I'll gladly host them on this site.