An even better way to locate properties is to use older aerial photos. There was a set that covers all of PA that was taken by the USDA in the late 1930's or early 1940's. They have been scanned and are on a free site (Penn Pilot) maintained by Penn State University: http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/ There are two sets of aerial photos on the site, 1937-1942, and 1967-1972. Zoom into the location you want. Select the year range from the small menu box near the top center of the map. Red dots will indicate the centers of the aerial photos. Click on the dot, and a window will pop up with the photo information. You can download the photos (as compressed zip files) in three different resolutions. The files need to be "unzipped" prior to viewing them. If you don't have software to unzip files, free programs to unzip the photos can be downloaded from various sites, including: http://www.pkware.com/download-software/free-unzip These photos are especially helpful for locating the original property boundaries in areas that have been developed since the 1940's. It is often easier to see the original tract boundaries in these photos than it is in recent photos. These photos were taken before the Interstate highway system and most of the PA Turnpike. Finding an exact location can be more difficult if you were using those roads as landmarks. It may be easier to find the exact spot in the photos from the 1960's and 1970's, and then switch to the earlier set if needed. Ken McCrea Stevens, PA > Date: Sat, 2 May 2009 17:51:39 -0400 > From: "Dr. Neal O. Hively" <nealhively@comcast.net> > Subject: Re: [PAYork] Adam Long > > A research friend also showed me a 'new' and very neat trick. Download > Google Earth (the free version). Zoom to the desired location - and follow > the streams and roads to approximate the property location (as noted on my > connected survey maps), then follow fence lines / tree lines and presto - > you can see (as of about four years ago when those satellite photos were > taken) exactly where those properties are! Not much has changed in 250 > years.