TimeWalk Wiki — Log

2026-04-05

  • Wiki created. Initialized repo structure, schema (AGENTS.md), index, and log.
  • Repo: https://github.com/TimeWalkOrg/TimeWalkWiki (private)
  • Based on Karpathy’s “LLM Wiki” pattern — AI-maintained, persistent, compounding knowledge base.
  • Ready for first ingest pass: research catalog (46 datasets) + maps inventory (80 maps).

2026-04-05 — First Ingest

  • Ingested 46 research catalog sources → 46 source pages in wiki/sources/
  • Ingested 80 maps from Google Sheets inventory → 80 map pages in wiki/maps/
  • Created 4 period overview pages (wiki/periods/)
    • manhattan-12000bc.md — Paleo period
    • manhattan-1609.md — Lenape Mannahatta
    • manhattan-1664.md — Dutch Colonial / New Amsterdam
    • manhattan-1776.md — Revolutionary War
  • Updated index.md (130 total pages)
  • All pages cross-referenced to period overviews
  • Map pages include: year, cartographer, source institution, digital URL, significance
  • Source pages include: provenance, type, time coverage, license, tags, description

2026-04-05 — Second Ingest (Buildings, Places, People, Events, Concepts)

  • 35 building pages from PostGIS 1776_nyc_parcels_buildings (16 destroyed in Great Fire)
  • 10 place pages: Bowling Green, Fort Amsterdam, Wall Street, Broad Street, Broadway, Pearl Street, The Battery, Collect Pond, Hanover Square, The Common
  • 6 people pages: Peter Stuyvesant, Peter Minuit, George Washington, William Howe, Nathan Hale, Adriaen van der Donck
  • 5 event pages: Great Fire of 1776, British Surrender 1664, Battle of Brooklyn, Declaration Read, British Evacuation
  • 5 concept pages: Dutch Colonial Architecture, Manhattan Landfill History, Colonial Street Layout, Great Fire Damage Zone, Sugar Houses of Manhattan
  • Great Fire page cross-references all 16 burned buildings
  • Index updated: 191 total pages

2026-04-05 — Manhattan Wiki Ingest

  • Imported all 26 pages from https://github.com/TimeWalkOrg/Manhattan/wiki
  • Content includes: Lenapehoking terrain, Dutch brick construction, NPC character specs, 1664 surrender primary sources, Alexander Hamilton at 21, British occupation details, building design references, harbor/ships, Battle of Long Island, Commons/Liberty Pole, Great Fire details, Pleistocene ice age, demo script, FAQ, sound design, event manager spec, UE settings
  • Image references updated to point to original wiki URLs
  • New pages added to: periods (6), places (1), buildings (1), people (3), events (4), maps (1), concepts (10)
  • Total wiki: 217 pages
  • Audited all 99 image references across 217 wiki pages
  • 36 images safe (public domain maps/engravings, own UE screenshots, Ted’s botanical garden photos)
  • 9 copyrighted images replaced with “IMAGE REMOVED” placeholders:
    • 5x Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft)
    • 2x HBO “John Adams” series
    • 1x Google Maps/Earth
    • 1x Auction house (invaluable.com)
  • 45 uncertain images watermarked with “COPYRIGHT TBD” overlay
    • Most are likely pre-1928 public domain paintings/engravings but need verification
    • Watermark is semi-transparent red diagonal text
  • Next step: visually inspect watermarked images, find public domain versions on Wikimedia/LOC
  • Visually inspected all 45 watermarked images using AI vision
  • 24 confirmed public domain — watermarks removed, originals restored
  • 18 confirmed copyrighted — replaced with descriptive placeholders + replacement notes
  • 2 uncertain — kept watermarked pending Ted verification
  • 1 already classified correctly (was in batch 1)
  • Created image-replacement-tracker.md with specific free sources for each copyrighted image
  • Found CC-licensed Half Moon replica photos on Wikimedia Commons
  • Found NOAA/USGS/NASA public domain sources for maps and glacier imagery
  • No private codes, tokens, or credentials found in repo (safe to make public after image cleanup)
  • Estimated total licensing cost: 200, only 1-2 images may need paid license)

2026-04-05 — Free Image Replacements

  • Downloaded 8 free replacement images from Wikimedia Commons and LOC:
    • Half Moon replica (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia)
    • Batavia ship interior (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia) — similar period Dutch ship
    • Lenape dwelling photo (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia)
    • Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia)
    • Laurentide Ice Sheet map (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia)
    • William Pitt Tavern, Portsmouth NH (CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia)
    • Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth NH (Public Domain, LOC/Carol Highsmith)
    • Colonial house (Public Domain, LOC/Carol Highsmith)
  • Created 2 informational placeholders with source URLs for manual download:
    • Glacier reference (NASA Earth Observatory, public domain)
    • NY Bight bathymetry (NOAA, public domain)
  • Remaining copyrighted placeholders (8): need UE renders, Google Street View replacements, and book cover alternatives