Mobile History
Baltimore Heritage wants to use a smart phone application to make residents aware of the history around them.
Photos
A local preservation group has developed a way to make the city's history mobile.
Baltimore Heritage has developed and released the Explore Baltimore Heritage smart phone application that residents can download to help them discover the story behind historic buildings in their neighborhoods. The group has also created a website sharing the information.
"We hope this will get people to look up and notice these buildings," Baltimore Heritage Field Officer Eli Pousson said during a presentation on the application on Tuesday at the Charles Theater.
The application allows residents to look for historic buildings by neighborhood, and to access historic photos and stories on the buildings.
Baltimore Heritage is planning to add video and audio to the application.
Pousson said it will encourage people to explore more of Baltimore beyond the center of the city.
"We’re talking about heritage in places that aren’t getting the lion’s share of the attention," Possun said.
Some of the historic North Baltimore sites included in the application’s GPS enabled map are St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park, Evergreen House near Loyola University Maryland and Clipper Mill in Woodberry.
Possun said the collection of historic places is far from complete and that Baltimore Heritage will be looking for volunteers to help add to the group’s collection.
carrie bennett
3:42 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Really cool idea. Thanks for reporting on it. Just down loaded it from iTunes and will give it a whirl!
Fran Minges
9:22 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I think historic sites and markers should have QR codes that can be scanned by smart phones for a brief story on their significance. Or, there should be a national phone number or website that uses GPS to provide the information based on where you are.