20,000 visits.

I’m pleased and a little amazed to note that the Alameda Old House History Blog has just made it to 20,000 visits. I’ve been running the blog for about a year now and have enjoyed the comments and the conversation this forum has produced. It’s also nice to have an outlet for research, and to imagine a small but loyal readership that cares about this stuff too. Thanks for being along on the journey. I hope this work has stoked your imagination and curiosity about house history.

Here are some thoughts on the past year and visitation to this site:

• The number one most viewed page is the style points piece on the Tudor Cottage. I guess that means there are lots of Tudor cottages out there in the world. The second most popular spot on the blog is the story on Alameda Life 1920-1930 which tries to imagine life here based on what the Federal Censuses offer.
• The busiest day for traffic on the site was December 8, 2007. On that day, the blog was mentioned by Jack Bogdanski at www.bojack.org (which is an interesting blog, by the way).
• Typically, the site sees about 70-100 visits a day. Daily visits tend to peak up into the hundreds immediately after the Alameda Newsletter is distributed (I write a history column in that newsletter and pick up some readers from there).
• The two quietest days of the year: Christmas and election day!

Plans for the next year include:

• I’ve just changed the domain name to make life a little simpler. Maybe you noticed: it’s www.alamedahistory.org The former URL works too, but it’s a mouthful to say.
• I’ll continue to share some of the material I’ve gleaned from reading all the old newspapers. I’ll upload stories, graphics, photos, advertisements and other tidbits.
• I’ve just started the process of nominating my home for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. I’ll write about that process and offer insight into its twists and turns as they unfold.
• I’m going to try to focus on interpretation that you can use. Places where I can point you in the neighborhoods as entry points for learning about history. I’ve tried to do this with the history walks, but will continue to seek ways to do this. Open to ideas.

To those who have commented or pointed me in search of history, I say “thank you.” To all visitors, I invite you to contribute your thoughts, ideas and questions.