QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – History is coming alive in a new way in Warren County. A soon-to-be-released smartphone app is set to use GPS to bring local stories from the past to life, one at a time.
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls will host a presentation introducing history fanatics to the new “Explore Warren County” app, launching early in 2024. Led by Warren County Geographic Information Systems Coordinator Sara Frankenfeld and Cliff & Redfield Interactive founder Dan Forbush, “Spatial Storytelling in Western Warren County” will be hosted at 7 p.m. at the library’s Community Room.
The Explore Warren County app will launch next year with three audio tours. Each one is triggered by GPS location.
The app will feature a “First Wilderness Audio Tour,” following the Central Adirondack Trail to Thirteenth Lake and Garnet Hill in the southern Adirondacks. Other tours include a look at the history of North Creek, and another supporting the Warren County Historian’s Challenge.
“It makes us think in a new way about narrative,” said Forbush. “We’re writing to fit a particular stretch of road or trail rather than a page. We have to describe what visitors will actually be seeing at the very moment they’re approaching or experiencing a point of interest, so our timing needs to be precise.”
Once the app launches next year, it will need testing. The team behind it is looking for up to 25 volunteers to test its technology over three months, visiting the GPS sites multiple times as the app is updated. The service operates based on technology developed using the “STQRY” platform, first developed in Rochester 20 years ago.
At the Crandall Library presentation, Frankenfeld and Forbush will also provide updates on interactive map projects focusing on Warren County’s underground railroad and early citizens. Visitors will also be provided with folding maps of the First Wilderness region.
