We at Preservation Ohio recently discovered a new tool which provides a dynamic way to view your historic downtown or neighborhood.

Through programs such as Google Maps, MapQuest and others, it has now become easy to access maps of every square inch of Ohio. Increasingly, these programs now also provide aerial views of your community taken from satellite – some so detailed that it is actually possible to view cars in driveways and pedestrians on the street. Unfortunately, not all of Ohio can be viewed with this level of detail, unlike states such as Massachusetts and Indiana which have been completely documented in this fashion.

As wonderful as those aerial satellite views are, they pale in comparison to the new “Bird’s eye” feature of Microsoft’s Windows Live Local. For many cities and rural areas of Ohio, aerial photos are now available taken at very close range, with remarkable detail and clarity. And, in almost all cases, it is actually possible to rotate the image, and to view a scene from all four directions.

A short list of communities and counties that can now be viewed in this fashion include the following:

Hamilton, Middletown, Oxford and all of Butler County
Springfield
Cincinnati/Hamilton County
Lebanon
Dayton/Montgomery County
London
Washington Court House
Xenia
Greenfield
Chillicothe
Alliance
Youngstown
Warren
Cleveland/Cuyahoga County
Lorain
Oberlin
Wellington
Columbus/Franklin County
Delaware
Bowling Green
Toledo/Lucas County
Sandusky/Kellys Island
Elyria

You now have a unique (and free) ability to take a close-up view of many corners of historic Ohio from the comfort of your own home or office. Simply visit Windows Live Local (click here or visit maps.live.com), enter the city and state in the search box, zoom to the area of town you would like to view using the plus/magnifying glass on the left of the map, and click “Bird’s eye” in the top menu. You can then use your cursor to stroll through town – and can zoom in closer using the same magnifying glass icon.  The photo above is of downtown Lebanon, including the famed Golden Lamb.

One word of caution, however – the Bird’s eye view on Windows Live Local is extremely addictive. You have been warned.

Photo:  Downtown Lebanon -- Windows Live Local