Historypin records the past on Google Street View

Historypin, a new family history website, is encouraging users to upload old photos of places to its website to help form an interactive, online historical map of the UK and other parts of the world.

The pictures are then ‘tagged’ with dates and explanations so that other people can view them and find out about their history.

Photographs can also be placed onto a Google Street View image if it exists, so they can be seen in the context of how the street or area looks now.

The project is being run by the London-based non-profit group We Are What We Do, in partnership with Google, which is providing the online storage space for the pictures.

All copyright and other rights will remain with the uploader. Other users can view the pictures, select particular dates to view and add their own comments and links to other images.

Pictures have already been uploaded by several national archives such as the Mirror newspaper group’s library and the London Transport Museum. Local history groups around the country have also contributed images.

Although the website and most of the pictures are UK-based, images can be located anywhere in the world.

Besides being placed in a particular location on the map, Google plans to add extra features to the site in future such as the ability to add audio and video clips.

Access to the site is free. If users do not have access to a scanner, a paid-for service is available so they can have their pictures scanned. Some prints will be available through a partnership with printing website Snapfish.