History Centric Map App

4/23/2016

Written by, Mathew Sisneros

Ever since I was young I have been into all things historic and prehistoric. At an early age I discovered the wonder that was ancient Egypt and from then on I was hooked. In college I pursued anthropology and focused heavily on Biological anthropology and Archaeology. Once into the field of Cultural Resource Management within archaeology, I discovered GIS applications and how heavily they rely on GIS and GPS for geocoding sites and navigation to areas where we might discover sites. It was only logical that I would then follow up my archaeology degree with a GIS certificate to dip into both fields that interest me so very much.

This interest in history, the past, and now mapping these things on a modern landscape brought me to a Next Exit History booth during the 2015 Archaeology Road Show put on by Portland State University. Next Exit history is a web based map application that maps things of historical note based on your current location or which state you click as your selector within the web map embedded on the website. This map application was designed by Historical Research Associates (HRA) and the University of West Florida (UWF). Next Exit History has over 60,000 historical sites, landmarks, parks, etc. mapped on a Google map and you can select these points and be transported to a webpage describing this site, a map showing its location, some photography about the site, and even some audio recordings introducing the site to the viewer.

Here is an example from right here in downtown Portland: http://nextexithistory.com/site/national-historic-landmark-pioneer-courthouse/

You can also create “Backpacks” which are tours that are centered around a theme or particular historical event. It will only pull up the sites and landmarks associated with that theme, as if it is its own separate layer that would be selected in an ArcGIS program. For example here is one centered on the American Southwest:
http://nextexithistory.com/backpack/american-southwest/

As an archaeologist, I find this extremely useful in at least introducing the general public to aspects of history and archaeology that may not even enter their sphere of influence on a given day. Also this can help introduce future generations to these sites and help people to understand the importance of history and archaeology. These types of documentation within this map application can also get the public cognizant of that wealth of historical and archaeological data and even demonstrate the need to preserve and conserve these sites from potential damage due to development or climate change. If you are interested in history or archaeology, like I am, then this app is definitely something to consider adding to your smartphone library.
http://nextexithistory.com/

3 Comments

Ken De'Ora

5/9/2016 08:19:30 pm

While I like the idea and most of the execution of this app/website overall. I do see a couple things lacking.

First and foremost, what's working for it is, as you pointed out, that it can definitely shed light on places people might not have known exist and draw attention to preservation. Which is great.

Also its app is really clean looking, full of user-relevant options to see your surrounding cultural sites and even has a history hunter game which is pretty cool, conceptually. Plus, there does seem to be some comprehensive backpacks in a couple other spots around the US like the one you referenced in the southwest.

However, I think where this app misses the mark is on its website. The unification of cultural data around single geographic location doesn't seem to be as easy to find as it was when I loaded the app.
In fact, on their website, I couldn't find a way to search for sites this way at all.

Also on the website, the search bar doesn't seem to search all terms entered for results in their database. Instead, it gives explicit returns, so entering "pioneer square" comes back with a Seattle location but nothing related to Portland. But as we can see in your post, there's definitely a result in there that could potentially be called but doesn't resolve.

Lastly, it seems that on their website, the moderating of category input titles are a bit redundant. "Historic Sites" and "Historic Cemeteries"; are those distinctly different or should they just be lumped into "Historic Sites" with a pull down call out to specify the exact type as "Cemetery"? It looks to me, like the discrete categorizing of their sites makes searching their collection a bit of a burden.

So I guess I just mean to say, I do see the positive side in creating a backpack; discovering new sites in your nearby area exciting and selecting a specified category input makes it more user relevant and on the app it's definitely working for it, functioning as edutainment.

But this is also a website. And in that sense, I think it still has a way to go. It's design as a product which brings together the public, is struggling a bit and I see something important being missed if I can search for a location (perhaps with some trying) but after clicking on it, I miss all the other surrounding landmarks because there isn't a layer showing sites in a 5 mile radius.

So I guess I'll stick with the app! Thanks for the pointing me to this Matt! It's cool.

mike Holscher

5/10/2016 09:58:29 am

I have worked with SHPO (State Historical Preservation Office) for 20 years requesting information of archaeological and historical nature for proposed development sites. They typically state in their findings that the information requested is not for public dissemination. They don't want people going to these sites a digging around. And it appears that the App does not have these sensitive unknown sites for the Portland/Oregon area mapped.

That being said, I think the app is very cool and I plan to use this on my next trip. Thanks for the find.

5/10/2016 12:14:19 pm

I was pleasantly surprised by this as well. Pretty cool.

History Centric Map App

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