Google Street View has been available for a few months now on Muralfarm.org, an implementation of Sajara, Azavea’s web-based geographic digital asset management software, which enables users to search and view the murals produced and maintained by the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Included in the thumbnails of photographs for each mural is a white box labeled “Google Street View.” Clicking on this link enables viewers to see the mural as it’s visible to someone walking down the street. It’s a great chance to view the mural in the context of its larger streetscape and neighborhood.

We had such a positive reaction to Street View on Muralfarm.org that we decided to add the feature to PhillyHistory.org, another Sajara implementation that shows the beautiful historic images from the Philadelphia City Archives. We figured it would be a useful way to compare past architecture to the present landscape and tell more of the story of the city’s past.

The results provide an exciting visual demonstration of how the city has changed and developed over the course of its history. A 1914 photo shows a few people standing outside the Head House Market near 2nd and Pine Streets. The present-day Street View for that location shows the same market house with a few changes. A photo from 1918 of the intersection of Arch Street and 10th Street includes several businesses and a sign stretched across the street proclaiming that “Food Will Win the War.” The same intersection in 2009 is still home to many businesses and restaurants. Instead of a war-time sign, an ornate Chinese gate extends across the street, reflecting the ancestry of many residents of an area which now makes up part of the Chinatown neighborhood.

Arch Street Looking West from 10th Street, 1918

Arch Street Looking West from 10th Street, 2009

In the midst of the Street View awesomeness, there was one tiny, frustrating issue. The Street View is set to automatically show whatever Google has established as the default view for that address or intersection. This means that it’s sometimes necessary to navigate up and down the street or pan the view in order to see the mural or the location that matches the historic photo. However, thanks to the work of Carissa, one of our software developers, we’ve found a way around that problem. Carissa built an administrative tool that lets us set the angle and viewpoint of the Street View for any asset. We simply adjust the angle until we have the perfect view and then click “Save” to set that view as the default. Now, whenever the Street View is opened for that asset, it will show the perfect angle with no panning or navigating necessary. To find out more of the technical details of how Carissa solved the problem, read her entry over at Azavea Labs.

Check out the Street View on Muralfarm.org and PhillyHistory.org, and let us know what you think!