Yes, I'm still kicking!
There has been a lot of map work going on the past several months with a big update coming in a few weeks. I'm taking a breath today since friends and followers of this project get concerned when I go silent for long periods of time and reach to ask if I'm okay. I am. I'm just happily immersed in old maps, data, and thought. :)
Current work includes using georeferenced maps to more accurately describe in what provinces the colonies were originally settled rather than descriptions of where they were during and after WWII, or more recently. A lot of sources focus on where you can find the place now, or 10, 20, 80 years ago and not where it was when colonies were initially founded. I get it. It's easier to state where they were places were the last time they were inhabited by Germans. As of last year, districts have changed or been dissolved in Ukraine in favor of a more simple structure. These changes haven't been reflected on Google Maps yet, but Wikipedia has them. Maybe to most, it doesn't really matter as long as the coordinates are correct. And this is absolutely true. But I have this long-standing curiosity of wanting to know "what was there before" and "what it was called at the beginning." Much of this project is to satisfy my own curiosity beyond coordinates. I share it with the hopes that others might benefit.
Also a lot of work is being done on disassembling the "Black Sea" and reassembling it (and more) into "South Russia." South Russia is a term many of our ancestors used to describe where they came from, and a term that causes consternation with some people now who are irked by the term. "We're getting pretty far north. Is it still South Russia?" or "It doesn't border the Black Sea. Are they still Black Sea Germans?" Like salted butter, I'm bringing back "South Russia."
There is other re-arranging of data that will hopefully help make the maps more useful and easier to quickly find the place you're looking for.
More to come on all of this in the coming weeks.
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