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.

As part of the project, the library is seeking your help. If you have information on your property – however mundane you may think it could be, historic photographs, or even information on a home within the Village that you formerly owned or resided in, we ask that you consider sharing your knowledge or photos with the library. We know our village has changed significantly, with many structures destroyed by fire or demolition, and we are eager to include those wherever possible. Photographs will be scanned using a high-resolution scanner on-site, and never need to leave the owner’s possession. Any images scanned will be happily shared with their owners electronically. So much of our history is held in the minds and albums of residents and former residents, and we wish to document those valuable histories for future generations.