Awsm Innovations Wins the First-Ever Google Maps Platform Award

The first-ever Google Maps Platform Awards is not just another competition. It’s a celebration of two decades of innovation, honoring projects that push the boundaries of creativity and technical excellence with Google Maps Platform. To be recognized here means joining the ranks of the most impactful projects worldwide. And we’re proud to say Awsm Innovations has done just that!

We are honored to have won the very first Google Maps Platform Award for our project, ‘Mapping 19th Century Jewish Charity in New York’. For a small, close-knit team like ours, this recognition is both humbling and affirming.

A Story Waiting to Be Mapped

The inspiration goes back to 1899, when a young clerk named Louis Lewengood prepared a booklet for the United Hebrew Charities in New York City. Inside were the names and addresses of more than a thousand Jewish immigrants who had received aid, alongside the names of the donors who had helped them. This modest record revealed something profound: the geography of poverty and philanthropy in 19th-century Manhattan.

When we were approached to digitize and map this data, we knew it wasn’t just about plotting old addresses. It was about giving voice to forgotten lives, visualizing the social divides of a growing city, and transforming static archives into something living, searchable, and human.

What We Built

We created ‘Worthy and Unworthy’, an interactive digital map overlaying 1,500+ historic addresses from 1899 onto present-day New York. The project allows users to see, filter, and compare where charity recipients and donors lived, showing striking patterns of wealth and need that rarely overlapped.

Users can filter by recipient or donor, search by donation amount or charity type, compare historic and modern addresses, and even view scanned images of the original handwritten ledger entries. Designed with a clean, retro aesthetic, the project respects the historical nature of the data while ensuring it’s accessible and engaging for modern audiences.

How We Did It

• Frontend: Built with the Google Maps JavaScript API and custom styling to match the historical tone.
  
• Data Mapping: Digitized, cleaned, and geocoded original ledger data to plot it precisely across Manhattan.
  
• Filtering & UX: Custom engine enabling fluid exploration by year, category, and more.
  
• Overlay System: Interactive pop-ups displaying names, addresses, donation or aid details, and original scanned entries.
  

We built the map interface using the Google Maps JavaScript API, paired with custom geocoding, a lightweight JS framework for interactivity, and responsive design for accessibility across devices. Every detail—from data cleaning to performance tuning—was a testament to the diligence of our team.

Balancing historical sensitivity with modern usability wasn’t easy. Many addresses no longer exist, terms were outdated, and the data had gaps. But with patience, research, and teamwork, we ensured the map was as accurate and respectful as possible, all while keeping performance smooth on desktop and mobile.

Beyond the Code

For us, this project was more than a technical exercise. It was a reminder of the power maps hold—not just for navigation, but for storytelling, empathy, and uncovering truths that connect the past to the present. Small datasets, when mapped thoughtfully, can reveal large social realities.

And that’s the heart of Awsm Innovations. We’re a small team, without a marketing department, without campaigns or promotions. Yet time and again, our work speaks for itself. Awards and recognitions aren’t new to us, but each one reinforces what we’ve always believed—that a passionate, talented team can make a global impact.

A Team Effort

This award belongs to every member of our team. Behind every pixel mapped and every dataset refined lies dedication, creativity, and relentless problem-solving. And we are deeply grateful to our client, who trusted us to bring this vision to life.

This story will not be complete without mentioning the efforts of our long-term partner Bharat KV of Marapachi Design Studio. He crafted the entire design based on Bento layouts.

Here’s to building technology that tells stories worth remembering—and to a team that continues to prove that big achievements can come from small teams with bold ideas.