Our Community
You don't have to be a history buff to use When It Was. I'm not one. Most people who use this won't be. And that's exactly the point.
Two Types of People
There are two groups that make this work, and they're both important:
Casual Explorers
Most people who use When It Was are just curious. They wonder what used to be at a building they drive by. They want to show their kids where they went on their first date. They check the map for 10 seconds when they're at a new restaurant.
These people don't contribute research. They don't upload dozens of photos. They just explore, discover, and enjoy. That's perfect. That's exactly who this is built for.
If you're someone who uses the map occasionally because you're curious about your town—you're the majority. And you're why I'm building this.
The Handful of Contributors
Then there are the passionate ones. A handful of people in every city who actually love researching this stuff. They spend hours in archives. They have photo albums from the 60s and 70s. They remember when downtown looked completely different.
I only need a handful per city. Not hundreds. Not thousands. Just a few people who care enough to dig through old directories, upload their family photos, or document what they remember.
These contributors are who make the database comprehensive. But they're not the majority—and that's okay. If a lot of casual users want this resource, and a handful of passionate people build it, that's how it works.
You Don't Need to Be an Expert
If you remember old Palatine businesses—that's valuable. You don't need to know exact dates. Approximate is fine. "Sometime in the early 80s" is better than nothing.
Have old photos? Upload them even if you're not sure of the year. The community can help date them. Someone will recognize the cars in the parking lot or the storefront next door.
Remember a business but not the address? Describe where it was. Someone else might remember the exact location.
You don't need expertise. You just need memory.
The Friend Who Started This
This whole thing started because friends kept asking "what used to be there?" We'd be at places, talking about what the building was before. Trying to Google it and finding nothing.
Then one friend said, "I could have used your app the other day." That was the final straw. Fine. I'd build it.
The community isn't some abstract concept. It's real people—friends, neighbors, people who've lived in Palatine for decades—who wonder about their town and want answers.
What Contributors Add
When someone contributes to When It Was, they're adding things I'd never find on my own:
Personal memories. Not just "there was a pharmacy here," but "Mr. Smith knew every customer by name. Kids bought penny candy after school. He closed in 1987 when the chain stores moved in."
Photos from attics. Family albums with pictures from the 60s and 70s showing what places actually looked like. These aren't in any archive—they're in people's homes.
Specific details. Which families owned which stores. Why businesses closed. What events happened. The stories that humanize the history.
That's what makes this different from just researching city directories. The community adds the human element.
No Pressure to Contribute
If you never contribute a single thing and just use the map to explore—that's great. Seriously. You don't owe me anything. I'm building this because it didn't exist and I wanted it to exist.
If everyone who used it felt obligated to contribute, that would ruin it. This isn't Wikipedia where you should feel guilty for not editing. This is a tool. Use it however you want.
But if you DO have memories, photos, or knowledge—and you want to add them—that helps everyone. It's appreciated but not required.
How This Grows
As Palatine gets more documented, word spreads. More people discover it. Some of them remember things and add them. Others just explore. Both grow the community.
Eventually, other towns see this and want the same thing. They find their handful of passionate contributors. The model replicates.
That's how it scales—not through massive marketing campaigns, but through word of mouth from people who find it useful.
Join However You Want
There's no wrong way to be part of this community. Explorer. Contributor. Somewhere in between. All of it helps preserve what used to be here.