If you’ve lived in our area for any length of time, you’ll notice a puzzling practice among residents; it doesn’t have a name (to my knowledge), and frequently causes confusion among new residents and visitors – the reference of a property by its previous owner or business. While you may have owned or resided in a home or business space for decades, you’ll quickly realize that your property is referred to as ‘the old XXX’s place’, or something similar. If you haven’t lived in the area for decades, it can be confusing, as you don’t know who inhabited any given space 25 years ago. In many ways, it seems to be an oral history tradition, linking generations past with the present, helping to preserve the history of our place.

The Interlaken Public Library is undertaking a project to help document such histories. In partnership with the Interlaken Historical Society and through the use of what is called a “blue form” (a standardized form named for the blue paper they are printed on) every property in the Village of Interlaken will be surveyed and researched. Each property will have its unique history documented, including information regarding notable residents and owners, architectural details and changes over time, as well as that property’s role within the community at large. By the end of this project, expected to span over four years, every property within the Village will have been documented, its history recorded, and the information added to the Maurice Patterson Research Room for future historians and researchers to reference.

Scroll down to see currently completed blue forms, available online 24 hours a day.