I found that the house in which my father lived as a child between 1912-1922, No. 6 School Road in Old Aberdeen, appears to have vanished. According to maps of the time, School Road ran from Dunbar east to King Street, and from King Street to the shore was open ground on which the local children played, according to him. After WW2, that open area was built over, and School Road was extended east of King Street. Meanwhile, St Machar Drive was built across the front of the church (or so it appears on maps -- I've never actually been to Aberdeen myself) and the name of the new street was extended to the original School Road as far as King Street. A cousin visiting the city from Canada investigated for me while making a tourist trip to the church, but said where she assumed #6 School Road, now #? St Machar Drive, would have been was now a bank and parking lot, and took a photo of same. As I have two photos of my father as a boy in front of and behind their house, it doesn't look as if the old structure was reused for the bank building. His maternal grandparents lived in Charles Street at that time, around the years of WW1, but my understanding is that that street was heavily bombed in WW2 and either was rebuilt or paved over for a new wider street. My cousin didn't have time to go there and see, and relied on what her tour guide told her when she asked about the street. Margaret Gibbs On 25/11/2013 6:39 AM, Gavin Bell wrote: > On 25/11/2013 00:34, Malcolm Ward wrote: > >> >> >> I wonder if anyone can tell me if street numbers in Aberdeen have changed >> since, say, the 1860s? >> >> >> >> I have looked in the PO Directories and maps of the time and as far as I can >> tell, 31 Albyn Place in 1865 is the same building as now. But I have a >> bunch of other addresses, including on Union Street. So do I need to check >> each one off, or can I rely on all the old numbers being the same (except >> for maybe splits in allotments I guess)? > > It might be safer not to make assumptions. Some street numbers may well > have changed, and I know for a fact that some street names have. I > can't say for certain whether there were any re-arrangements of existing > numbers on Union Street, but when it was first laid out, the name > applied only as far west as Union Bridge - beyond that was Union Street > West, and west of today's Summer Street it became Union Place. > > > Gavin Bell > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Bethany Have you ever tried using Google's Streetview to see the area for yourself? eg: this is the streetview for the Lloyds TSB branch on the corner of School Road today. http://goo.gl/maps/w1CrB Hope this helps and gives you ideas to others about viewing how places their ancestors lived look today from the comfort of your own armchair. > Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:27:51 -0800 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Aberdeen street numbers > > I found that the house in which my father lived as > a child between 1912-1922, No. 6 School Road in > Old Aberdeen, appears to have vanished. According > to maps of the time, School Road ran from Dunbar > east to King Street, and from King Street to the > shore was open ground on which the local children > played, according to him. After WW2, that open > area was built over, and School Road was extended > east of King Street. Meanwhile, St Machar Drive > was built across the front of the church (or so it > appears on maps -- I've never actually been to > Aberdeen myself) and the name of the new street > was extended to the original School Road as far as > King Street. A cousin visiting the city from > Canada investigated for me while making a tourist > trip to the church, but said where she assumed #6 > School Road, now #? St Machar Drive, would have > been was now a bank and parking lot, and took a > photo of same. As I have two photos of my father > as a boy in front of and behind their house, it > doesn't look as if the old structure was reused > for the bank building. > > His maternal grandparents lived in Charles Street > at that time, around the years of WW1, but my > understanding is that that street was heavily > bombed in WW2 and either was rebuilt or paved over > for a new wider street. My cousin didn't have time > to go there and see, and relied on what her tour > guide told her when she asked about the street. > > Margaret Gibbs > > > > On 25/11/2013 6:39 AM, Gavin Bell wrote: > > On 25/11/2013 00:34, Malcolm Ward wrote: > > > >> > >> > >> I wonder if anyone can tell me if street numbers in Aberdeen have changed > >> since, say, the 1860s? > >> > >> > >> > >> I have looked in the PO Directories and maps of the time and as far as I can > >> tell, 31 Albyn Place in 1865 is the same building as now. But I have a > >> bunch of other addresses, including on Union Street. So do I need to check > >> each one off, or can I rely on all the old numbers being the same (except > >> for maybe splits in allotments I guess)? > > > > It might be safer not to make assumptions. Some street numbers may well > > have changed, and I know for a fact that some street names have. I > > can't say for certain whether there were any re-arrangements of existing > > numbers on Union Street, but when it was first laid out, the name > > applied only as far west as Union Bridge - beyond that was Union Street > > West, and west of today's Summer Street it became Union Place. > > > > > > Gavin Bell > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message