Travel Back in Time With Street View and Map Archives

We take for granted that we can see any part of the globe through our phone or laptop screen because the tools and tech used to map our world are improving all the time.

One way to see how a place looked in the past is by taking a step back in time and seeing how it looked in the past.

Whether you're researching the spread of urban sprawl, or you just want to know what your street looked like before the millennium, these are three key resources you should be using.

There is a street view on the internet.

Did you know that you can use Street View to look back in time? You can only see Street View imagery for certain dates, but it goes back decades in some places. Historical photos can be accessed on both the web and the mobile app.

You can find them on the web by dragging the peg man from the bottom right corner of the map interface to any location on the map. You will be shown the latest street-level imagery when you drop the peg man.

You can travel back in time if you look in the top left-hand corner. If you want to look at the images from the available dates in the preview window, you need to click on the date. Clicking on the magnifying glass will give you a full look.

You can see how areas have developed over time if you open up the maps on the other platforms. You need to hold onto the road and tap the Dropped Pin card at the bottom to get to Street View. If you open the card again, you will see a See More Dates link.

There are old maps online.

Old Maps Online is one of the most comprehensive, and a good starting point, no matter where or when you are looking. If you want to see what's available for your location, you can either click Find a Place or browse the old maps.