How One Small Town in the USA Changed over a Century

I have lived in Waterford since the early 90s and love these historical views of the town. Jeff I know of your past here in town, gone are the days of a lot gentler way of life but the people here are still good hard working Americans That I am proud to call friend and neighbor..

Thank you for today's episode. Small towns are integral to the fabric of society more than ever before.

Another video related to my childhood upbringing where we went for a week every summer down to my uncle's peach farm in Hickman, California - and we had a blast floating down the canals on automobile inner tubes, jumping from the haystacks in the barn, milking cows, riding the little Honda motorcycle in the fields and falling in the soft levees that were made for the irrigation. Those are great memories and I wouldn't trade them for anything. My cousin still runs the farm but all the peach trees are gone and they've been replaced with almond trees. Thanks for your video and all the small town information, before & after pics are my favorite and the historical cemetery visit was very cool. I appreciate all your research Jeff and Sarah, bless you guys.

I'm always moved seeing how proud they were in these tiny towns, standing in front of their homes and businesses for photographs. Well done, History Hunters. ❤

A lot of work producing these, well done Jeff.

Excellent video Jeff. I worked in historic preservation for years and people often moan about the loss of a beautiful mansion. But I point out that the real history is in the smaller buildings, the ones most people don’t care about because the architectural detailing isn’t high style. It’s these “small” buildings, the post offices, the downtown grocer, the old bus station, that are worth saving because that’s where the majority of people came, went, and lived. We should try to keep them intact.

The overlays were very well done. Must of taken lots of work indeed. Thanks for your effort. Another outstanding job on bringing California history to the forefront.

👍👍! Loved the before and after pictures. Nice to see some of the old buildings still standing and some are still in use.

Incredible amount of work you put into this video. Its awesome to watch a real history hunter. Thank you

I first visited Waterford in the 90's to see my aunt, my wife and I even stayed there for a short time. At that time it the city seemed to be evolving into a suburb of Modesto. My aunt is now in the Robert's Ferry cemetery. The photo transitions were well done BTW.

I stop at every plaque I can. I love them

I think the older photographs of Waterford show a town with a lot more character than the photos of today. I live in Modesto and have lived in Stanislaus County most of my life. I love seeing and hearing about the past of these small towns in California. Thank you for taking the time to bring history alive.

I loved this episode! Another way of remembering the people that built our country and all their hard work giving us a wonderful place to live our lives. Thankyou for all your hard work too that helps us remember those we owe a great debt!

Jeff, thank you so much for your beautiful videos they mean so much to me. I have been wanting to leave a comment for a long time. Your videos are so professional and enjoyable. I have terminal cancer and I spend most of my time at home. I watch a lot of YouTube and your videos are like a life line for me. My childhood years we’re in a little town In Illinois out in the country, and my teenage years I grew up in the San Bernardino area in the 60’s. I so miss that Way of life. It was so simple and sweet. Your tone of voice and presentation is perfect so I hope you don’t change. Sarah is a hoot !!! God bless you both❤❤❤

VERY NICELY DONE JEFF! You really knocked this one out of the park! The amount of time and effort that you spent clearly showed. I sure miss the pride in the old architecture as compared to the "low bid get's the job" of today." Thank you for another great episode of HH.

Alan here again thanks Jeff he brought tears to my eyes I had forgot about Waterford that spent a lot of time there as well mostly going through there on my way to Coulterville I also lived in Delhi for many years so I went through there A lot of times headed up to Coulterville I used to stop at the Chinaman store and get Chinese food there's also a Mexican restaurant there called Sue Casitas hey there hundreds of times I think but that was many years ago now like a lot of times I miss many of those places in California they had a lot to do with my growing up thank you you do a wonderful job on the before and after my folks took us over the old original bridge when we were back moved there in the early early 60s I still remember that❤

Thank you for the video. My wife's great grand dad was a butcher in Waterford for many years. He and many family members moved to lodi in the 1940's.. We've been through this little town many Times!

Old towns are so rich with history and charm. The before and after pictures are amazing you get to see the way things were and the people who are now buried in that cemetery. This really reminds me of my home town of Clovis Ca next to Fresno. I just went into my grandparents 86 year old home for the 1st time and amazingly enough I took pictures were my grandparents and father once stood in their pictures. It’s an amazing feeling. Thank you for sharing and all your research!

I love this then-and-now approach. I know it can be very time consuming tracking down locations, but I hope you have the opportunity to do more of this in the future.

I really like the small old town visits you do. I'd prefer living back then for quite a few reasons. As long as aircraft were plentiful 😊