Adventure Awaits
Plan your past
History remembers the celebrated. Genealogy remembers them all. Want to take control of your past? Finescale History & Design offers a comprehensive, fully-integrated approach to genealogy, uncovering your family history and preserving it for generations to come.
Why Finescale? We started out designing and building precision, detailed, turn-of-the-twentieth-century structures for model railroad layouts. We now carry on this “finescale” philosophy to our passion for family history. Uncovering your past, as prologue for your future, is the adventure that awaits.
Below are the areas where we can assist you.
Saying good-bye to a life well-lived — The Benson Collection of dolls, carriages, and collectables
First, the Nitty Gritty …
aka, the nuts-and-bolts of family history
Building Family Trees
General family history services entail creating and building family trees. Depending on your existing knowledge, we start from scratch, or build on whatever you already have, or break through “brick walls” to discover missing links. Although we go where the evidence takes us, we specialize in 19th and early 20th century U.S.…
The Rest of the Story
Moving beyond bare names and dates, we look at family history, architectural, and social history, e.g., birthplaces, residences, occupations and workplaces, migration patterns, and the like to provide with a much fuller expression of what your family’s history encompassed. We not only report where your ancestors lived, for example, but offer insight…
Specialized Genealogical Research and Services
Specialized services include locating birthparents and unknown parent research, organization and analysis of family records, assisting clients with genealogy travel, and a host of other services. Are you related to a president? An infamous scoundrel? Or both? We can find out. Everything starts with a free initial consultation to learn what you…
Continue Reading Specialized Genealogical Research and Services
It’s All in the DNA
Well, actually it’s not all in the DNA, but a lot of it is.
DNA Analysis
We can facilitate DNA acquisition and analysis. Know the difference between autosomal, mitochondrial (mtDNA), and Y-DNA? That’s okay because we do and we can assist you in taking the right tests to achieve your goals. Everything starts with a free initial consultation to learn what you are looking for and to determine what we can…
We build our finescale models and we tell your stories …
Finescale Modeling
We construct small “finescale” models of relevant structures and create diorama displays depicting actual figures in your family. Available in sizes and displays of your choosing. This is where we started in all this. Everything starts with a free initial consultation to learn what you are looking for and to determine what we can do to get you there. From there, depending on the…
Presentation
Once the research is done it is time to tell the story, be it in a website, a book, video, or other methods of presentation of your choosing. We are also available for public speaking to your organization, workplace gatherings, family reunions, or other favorite groups. Whatever it is that is done for you, the final product envisions a thorough, written report that outlines…
Finally, something to do with Grandpa’s old pictures in the hall closet …
Historical photography digitally restored
Historical Photography
We assist in locating and restoring vintage photography. Enhancement using new augmented or virtual reality techniques is a specialty. We also refer clients to a team of current photographers specializing in family photography services in your area. From…
Our ancestors are a part of our story and we are a part of their story.”
-Unknown
Stories of Adventure
Apparently, I’m Not Korean
My first foray into genealogy and ancestry research came as a 9 year-old fourth grader at John Enders Elementary School in Garden Grove, California. As a family, we often had our 1960s suburban Orange County version of the mythical campfire centered over dinner around the dining room table. It was at this table, perhaps over…
The “Celebrities” Among Us
We all remember Lois Lane from the Superman sagas in comic books, on television, and in the movies. Smart, tough-as-nails, and tenacious, the world might never have discovered who the Man of Steel was really was behind those glasses had it not been for the star reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper. My grandfather Wilbur’s…
The Begatin’ Man
The movie Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized rendering of the Scopes Monkey trial held in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. In real life, John Thomas Scopes was a Dayton teacher charged with the crime of teaching evolution in the public schools. The trial was deliberately staged in order to create publicity and in that regard…
I Am Not a Crook, But I Am Your Cousin
While doing routine ancestry research on my own family tree one day, I discovered a rather significant family connection on my mother’s side with the Quaker tradition. In doing so I also came across the surname Milhous, which I knew to be the middle name of the only Quaker American president, and began to put…
We Didn’t Start the Fire …
Well, actually, I kinda did. As many of you know, I am into outdoor garden model railroading and model building. My layout is loosely (and it gets more loose as time goes on) based on my adopted hometown of Martinez, California around the turn of the 20th century. Not much progress has been made in…
Revenge of the Napkin Builders
It was six years ago to this very day that someone joined our little train group but didn’t last long. Keep in mind we’re a pretty chill group of mostly older men who still play with trains. Some of us are into train and structure building, some are into sophisticated replicas of real operating procedures,…