The
Northside Narrative Atlas Project
In
spring 2013 I assigned my environmental humanities class (ENVS 202) a unit
project based on Denis Wood’s book EVERYTHING SINGS maps for a narrative atlas
(siglio, Los Angeles 2010). 
Wood’s
book surveys Boylan Heights, his small historic neighborhood in Raleigh, NC,
and attempts to “subvert the traditional notions of mapmaking to discover new
ways of seeing both this place in particular and the nature of the place
itself.”
Wood’s
maps are varied and professionally done. (He is a geographer.) He maps
alleyways, the rhythm of the sun, lights at night, public and private trees,
sidewalk graffiti, wind chimes, view sheds, autumn trees, and many other
things. These maps describe what NPR radio commentator Ira Glass calls in the
introduction “human lives without ever showing us any people.”
My
class attempted to pull something similar off, but with even more urgency.
Wood’s Boylan Heights is a stable neighborhood, one of the oldest in Raleigh.
The Northside is vanishing before our eyes. A large redevelopment project is
underway and many of the houses in the 400-acre former village had already been
cleared when we started our work. Because of this urgency I asked the students
to survey the remaining material culture of the former mill village, the
Northside area across Church Street from Wofford College, and capture some remaining
aspect of it.
Using
inspiration from Wood’s maps my students explored the Northside for several
weeks. These maps are the result of their work. Some of what they mapped is
already gone.
John
Lane
The
Maps:

Mailboxes
By
Elizabeth Rhea

Houses with Chimneys
By
Madison Daly

Number of Front Steps
By
Hunter Bradshaw
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Boarded Up Houses
By
Michael Harpe

Crime Map
By
Lauren Dunbar
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“Empty but Bright” Brightly Colored Houses
By
Sara Francis Koontz
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Hierarchy of Power Lines
By
Taylor Neil

Alternative Signs
By
Seth Knight

Survey Markings
By
Mallery Pindar

Tree Cover
By
Jessica Jones

Roof Shapes
By
Hampton Williams

Porches
By
Michelle Green

Storm Drains
By
Jan Patton

Boarded-up Houses
By
Michael Comer

Houses with Gutters
By
James Daly

Shade
By
Rags Coxe

Stop Signs and Streetlights
By
Joey Francis

Porch Furniture
By
Lizzy Bishop

Where the People Still Live
By
Ryan Hurst

Where I Think the Nasty Branch Flows Based on Location of Large Trees By
Jordan Pope

Parked Trucks, Cars, and Motorcycles
By
Jay Poston

Condemned vs Occupied Houses
By
Frank Rogers

Ant Hills
By
Jackson Keith

Multiple Colored Houses
By
Taylor Fitch

Green Spaces and Houses
By
Logan Hutto