# Map geek alert: Victorian London **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534 "2014-03-12T14:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/1 "2014-03-12T14:08:14Z")
[This is really cool.](http://maps.nls.uk/openlayers.cfm?m=1&id=163) An overlay of incredibly detailed Victorian maps of London onto modern-day Google imagery. I’ve seen similar things in the past but nothing as detailed and perfectly aligned as this. The original maps were drawn at a scale of 1:1,056, or _five feet to the mile_, and they’re absolutely beautiful. Use the slider at the top to fade between old and new. If you’re a sucker for maps like I am, prepare to lose a lot of productivity. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/2 "2014-03-12T15:03:25Z")
That is very, very cool. I’m looking over all the areas of London that I’ve lived in or know well, and some of them have changed so very little, and others are almost unrecognisable. Thanks for this! ---
**Author:** ![Oreo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c57346/32.png) [@Oreo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oreo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/3 "2014-03-12T15:04:35Z")
That is seriously cool. Thanks for posting. I’m not going to get anything done today… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/4 "2014-03-12T15:31:21Z")
:: trying to find where my great-grandparents lived :: Okay, that is Seriously Distracting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/5 "2014-03-12T17:25:17Z")
Try looking at the blocks around St Pauls and see the difference that the Luftwaffe made. Except to St Pauls itself, that is. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/6 "2014-03-12T17:32:42Z")
I’m just seeing a big white square. tried zooming and no luck. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/7 "2014-03-12T18:00:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m just seeing a big white square. tried zooming and no luck. What browser are you using? It works for me in both Chrome and IE (although the slider to swap between the two maps is annoyingly sticky on both). Do you get the base Google Map or nothing at all? ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-geek-alert-victorian-london/683534/8 "2014-03-13T05:38:10Z")
I tried it in Firefox and had the same problem at first. Changing the “Map Group” on the left and then changing it back seemed to fix it. It was slow to load at first though.