Okay, it's the world's second oldest genealogy site. I stand corrected and in the interest of intellectual honesty, here are the details, helpfully supplied by a fellow librarian: > A posting was made in the Usenet newsgroup soc.roots on December > 8, 1993, by Stephen A. Wood, announcing the availability of > his site, > http://wood.cebaf.gov/~saw/genealogy.html > Yes, it still exists, although the current address of his "Genealogy > Home Page" is http://www.genhomepage.com > A 1997 New York Times article identified it as the first genealogy web > site. Here's a link to the article: > http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/030997genealogy.html If nothing else that means there are now two of us who can challenge Rootweb's claim to being the oldest genealogy site. And I'm still proud that Buffalo was on the cutting edge way back in 1993. -C. On Wed, 3 Apr 2002, Roots Webmaster wrote: > The world's oldest genealogy site is not what you think. Read on. > > Forgive the sound of a self-tooting horn, but I gotta take a > moment to proudly announce that as of today, my website "Roots: > The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum," has officially passed the 100,000 > visitor mark. (I know, the venerable Cyndi's List gets that many hits > every 20 minutes or so, but still...) > > Roots was launched in December 1993, making it very likely that Buffalo, > New York, has the first and oldest genealogy website in the world.* > I inherited Roots in late 1995 from its founder, who had lost interest in > it, but I didn't install a counter until late 1997. So I have no idea how > much traffic it got in its first four years. > > ----> To have a look, see: > ----> http://www.bfn.org/~roots > > Thanks go to Buffalo Freenet, a pioneering community information network, > for hosting Roots free of charge for nine years. Buffalo Freenet, a > largely volunteer-run outfit, continues to make free webspace available > for nonprofit organizations in Western New York State. To learn more, > visit http://www.bfn.org. > > *Note: As many of you know, Rootsweb bills itself as the world's oldest > genealogy site, but it did not go online with a homepage until early 1994, > according to my correspondence with one of its founders. Prior to 1994, > it existed only as a mailing list. You be the judge. > > -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- > Webmaster: Cynthia Van Ness, MLS -- roots@bfn.org > Roots: The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum -- http://www.bfn.org/~roots > With obits, vital records, city directories & hundreds of local links > > > -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- Webmaster: Cynthia Van Ness, MLS -- roots@bfn.org Roots: The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum -- http://www.bfn.org/~roots With obits, vital records, city directories & hundreds of local links

It takes a real man to admit an error. I am proud of your leadership in this field too. "Roots Webmaster" <roots@bfn.org> wrote in message news:Gu2KFB.Lpp@freenet.buffalo.edu... > > Okay, it's the world's second oldest genealogy site. I stand corrected > and in the interest of intellectual honesty, here are the details, > helpfully supplied by a fellow librarian: > > > A posting was made in the Usenet newsgroup soc.roots on December > > 8, 1993, by Stephen A. Wood, announcing the availability of > > his site, > > http://wood.cebaf.gov/~saw/genealogy.html > > > Yes, it still exists, although the current address of his "Genealogy > > Home Page" is http://www.genhomepage.com > > > A 1997 New York Times article identified it as the first genealogy web > > site. Here's a link to the article: > > http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/030997genealogy.html > > If nothing else that means there are now two of us who can challenge > Rootweb's claim to being the oldest genealogy site. And I'm still proud > that Buffalo was on the cutting edge way back in 1993. > > -C. > > On Wed, 3 Apr 2002, Roots Webmaster wrote: > > > The world's oldest genealogy site is not what you think. Read on. > > > > Forgive the sound of a self-tooting horn, but I gotta take a > > moment to proudly announce that as of today, my website "Roots: > > The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum," has officially passed the 100,000 > > visitor mark. (I know, the venerable Cyndi's List gets that many hits > > every 20 minutes or so, but still...) > > > > Roots was launched in December 1993, making it very likely that Buffalo, > > New York, has the first and oldest genealogy website in the world.* > > I inherited Roots in late 1995 from its founder, who had lost interest in > > it, but I didn't install a counter until late 1997. So I have no idea how > > much traffic it got in its first four years. > > > > ----> To have a look, see: > > ----> http://www.bfn.org/~roots > > > > Thanks go to Buffalo Freenet, a pioneering community information network, > > for hosting Roots free of charge for nine years. Buffalo Freenet, a > > largely volunteer-run outfit, continues to make free webspace available > > for nonprofit organizations in Western New York State. To learn more, > > visit http://www.bfn.org. > > > > *Note: As many of you know, Rootsweb bills itself as the world's oldest > > genealogy site, but it did not go online with a homepage until early 1994, > > according to my correspondence with one of its founders. Prior to 1994, > > it existed only as a mailing list. You be the judge. > > > > -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- > > Webmaster: Cynthia Van Ness, MLS -- roots@bfn.org > > Roots: The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum -- http://www.bfn.org/~roots > > With obits, vital records, city directories & hundreds of local links > > > > > > > > -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- > Webmaster: Cynthia Van Ness, MLS -- roots@bfn.org > Roots: The Buffalo NY Genealogy Forum -- http://www.bfn.org/~roots > With obits, vital records, city directories & hundreds of local links > >