Download Granite Falls history to a smartphone
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, May 31, 2011
GRANITE FALLS — Visitors and residents in the city can use their smartphones to learn a little more about its history.
The downtown Granite Falls self-guided cyber tour is available by downloading an application to read barcodes posted at 18 different locations in the city.
When some
one uses their phone to scan the code they can view a short video complete with old photos and an audio explanation about the location’s past, said Fred Cruger, vice president of the Granite Falls Historical Society. The tour is also available online for those who prefer to take the tour from their home.
“People like to come in and do research here (at the museum),” Cruger said. “It’s a nice place on a raining day . . . for people who go out and visit trails and old buildings, most have an interest in a then and now concept.”
Cruger is hopeful the new cyber tour of downtown Granite Falls catches the attention of people who are interested in history as well as those who like to try new high-tech applications. Cyber tours are also available of the city of Snohomish, the Mountain Loop Highway, and Snohomish County Aviation Adventures.
The Granite Falls Museum started digitalizing thousands of old photos in 2003 after the city celebrated its centennial, Cruger said. That process led to museum visitors being able to browse the collection of photos online. The project expanded in 2009 to include maps of Snohomish County from the 1880s to today, Cruger said. By using software equipment that can overlay old maps and modern geographic data, volunteers created an electronic map of the area that can help museum visitors search original homesteads and compare different maps.
That work led volunteers to begin scanning newspapers dating from about 1922 to 1975 and gave visitors yet another way to search for information.
The cyber tours are for “hard-core ‘then and now’ enthusiasts” who want to stand in front of a building now and see what it looked like years ago, Cruger said.
Brochures about the downtown Granite Falls cyber tour and the three others were printed through the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau and delivered last week to different sites including the four Snohomish County Visitor Information Centers, the Granite Falls Historical Museum, and the Granite Falls Tourism Information Center.
“It’s a whole new idea,” said Terry Musgrave, administration assistant at the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. “It’s probably easier for those who have iPhones to use the QR codes. You can use an Android (phone) but from what I’ve been told it’s not as flexible.”
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
Snohomish County Cyber Tours
Cyber tours are available for download of the city of Granite Falls, the city of Snohomish, the Mountain Loop Highway and Snohomish County Aviation Adventures at the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau website, www.snohomish.org.
Brochures can be picked up at any of the four Snohomish County Visitor Information Centers and single copies can be mailed by calling the tourism bureau at 888-338-0976.
