I took an image of a map of Davidson College from 1939-1940 and used MapTiler to mark points on this map that corresponded with a current cartographic view of Davidson College similar to what someone would see in Google Maps. \u00a0While geocoding, I only found it to be a challenge\u00a0when a building on one side didn’t correspond to a building on the old map of Davidson College. \u00a0I wasn’t sure if this would skew my results, but it turned out the way that I hoped it would. \u00a0Overall, the program is very straightforward for the purposes that I was using it.<\/p>\n
My geocoded result shows the accuracy of the traditional map as well as change over time (click on the link above and use the slider in the top right to see the differences between the two layers). The map tells the story of a growing college. \u00a0Like people, the college has changed in certain ways and has remained the same in other ways as time has gone on. \u00a0An example of accuracy is shown by Main Street (once called U.S Highway No. 21), which lines up almost perfectly with the Main Street in \u00a0the bottom layer; Concord Road does as well. \u00a0Differences include additions of dorms, academics buildings, and relocation of certain buildings such as the fraternities (currently in Patterson Court but once in Jackson Court-bottom right of old map). The most noticeable consistency is Chambers (large building in the center) as well as the paths on campus, which we can only see through the top layer since the trees in the bottom layer block our view.<\/p>\n
The story that the map is telling isn’t limited to just showing position change of buildings, but we can speculate as to why certain buildings moved. \u00a0For example, the library used to be far from Chambers (top left building on top layer map), but now it is located right behind\u00a0Chambers. This position change shows clustering of academic buildings, which the college currently does. The increase of population accounts for additional dormitories, expanding the campus, and possibly moving the fraternities to Patterson Court so that the faculty could have Jackson Court. \u00a0These two observations lead me to a realization from this ‘story in the form of a map’: necessity brings change, and change is made possible by money (we might even be able to say that potential needs arise when the money is there).<\/p>\n
With this information, I could use a map like this in the future to estimate trends of how the campus might evolve. \u00a0Obviously, Chambers will most likely remain where it is; it is the Sun while other buildings are planets that can enter an orbit from Chamber’s ‘gravitational pull’.\u00a0Furthermore, people determine what is necessary to change, which means that the layout of Davidson College is very much a social construct. \u00a0People are predictable, so the evolution of Davidson College should be as well.<\/p>\n
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