isetts.com

I'm a Google Map addict. I'll stare at Google Maps for hours trying to understand the layout & topography of an area I'm familiar with.

Well I've found a resource that totally blows a plain old Google map away: Wikimapia.

It's similar to Wikipedia but every entry gets geocodes and the interface is totally through a Google Map. The information for the places are sometimes nothing more than a name, but that's enough to get you searching.

I've been able to find out the names and histories of buildings & landmarks I'd long wondered about. Like a big undeveloped swath of land in the middle of Columbia Maryland turns out to be owned by some mystery group called The Blandair Foundation, which has patented a bird feeder.

And then there's a historic site near Ellicott City that after searching around the Internet reveals it has a sordid history filled with religious zealots*, vandalism, fire, and mystery owners.

Well, you know what I'll be doing for the next couple days.

*slight overstatement