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Ball State students create virtual walking tour of Putnam historic districts
History students enrolled in a Ball State immersive learning class recently completed a multimedia virtual walking tour for Putnam County.
The project is designed to promote the rich historical stories of Putnam County and to preserve its history by sharing it with hundreds of visitors.
Students produced tours of Bainbridge, Cloverdale, Greencastle’s Eastern Enlargement, Forest Hill Cemetery, Northwood Addition, Old Greencastle, Roachdale and Russellville. Each tour consists of 10-12 virtual stops, and is geared toward all ages.
The students will be making a formal public presentation/demonstration on Monday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Room on the northwest corner of the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse.
“Since the event takes place in one of the historic districts, the talk can be put to immediate practical use,” Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County President Margaret Kenton said in announcing everyone is welcome to attend the free program.
The virtual tour is an immersive experience consisting of narrative audio sound bites, written descriptions and pictures — all of which the students mapped, wrote, recorded, researched in the National Register and strategically compiled.
The tour may be accessed through mobile phones, computers or at http://heritagepreservationsociety.org/.
The students hope participants in the walking tour will learn about the county’s unique history through its architecture, historical buildings, railroad bed and more wide-ranging topics.
“The walking tour has been an exciting challenge so far. This major project is helping me realize this is what I want to do career-wise: to conduct research and piece together the puzzles of history in engaging ways for the purpose of public education,” junior history major Emma Brauer, of Shelbyville, said.
The walking tour creation is thanks to a partnership between the Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County and Ball State, and the public history practicum adviser Ronald V. Morris.