What Makes Us Different
You can try to find this information other ways. Google search. Facebook groups. Library archives. Historical society collections. But here's what actually happens.
The Facebook Group Problem: Take the "I Grew Up in Palatine, Get Over It" Facebook group. Great group, lots of knowledge. But when someone asks "where was the White House bar?" you get 47 comments mentioning 10 different bars with conflicting dates and no clear answer.
With When It Was? Click the spot on the map. Get the answer. Done.
Click the Map, Get the Answer
That's the fundamental difference. You're not scrolling through comments hoping someone remembers correctly. You're not cross-referencing city directories by year. You're not requesting microfilm at the library.
You click the location. You see what's been there since the 1850s. Photos. Dates. Stories. Everything organized by place, not scattered across fifty different sources.
When you wonder "what used to be there?"—that question gets answered in seconds, not hours.
Watch Time Unfold
The timeline slider isn't just a cool feature. It's how history actually works—places change over time. Drag the slider from 1850 to today and watch your town transform. See which businesses existed during any decade. Watch downtown evolve.
No archive can give you that view. You'd have to manually compare directories from different years, cross-reference addresses, hope the formatting stayed consistent. The slider does all that work for you.
Community Knowledge, Organized
I can't research every location myself. The knowledge is out there—in people's memories, their photo albums, their stories. I need a handful of passionate people in every city who remember things. That's enough.
The difference from Facebook groups? Organization. When someone adds that Mad Cats used to be Macs on Slade, and before that Mint Julep—that information lives with that location permanently. It doesn't get buried in comment threads. It doesn't disappear when Facebook's algorithm decides nobody cares about a 2-year-old post.
The knowledge stays attached to the place. Forever.
It's Built for Discovery
Like when I found out MP Tap House in Mount Prospect was built in the 1920s as a bowling alley. You walk in there now and have no idea. That's what makes this fun—those discoveries you'd never make just driving around.
You can explore. Click around. See what catches your interest. Find connections between places. Discover patterns in how neighborhoods developed. Fall down rabbit holes in the best way.
It's Actually Accessible
Historical societies have great collections. Libraries have archives. But they're open limited hours, require in-person visits, and assume you know how to navigate historical research methods.
When It Was is available 24/7. Works on your phone. No expertise required. Free to use. That accessibility matters—it's the difference between history being locked away versus history everyone can explore.
The Core Map Stays Free
I'm not hiding the fact that this needs to be sustainable. There are ads. Down the road, maybe businesses can pay for prominent placement. Maybe a freemium model for power users who want extra features.
But the core map and historical database will remain free to access. You don't need to pay to answer "what used to be there?" That's the commitment.
The Real Difference: When It Was solves a real problem. Not an academic research problem. Not a historical society cataloging problem. The actual frustration of wanting to know what used to be somewhere and having no good way to find out.
That's what makes this different. It's built for regular people who wonder about their town.