Check out my latest VoiceMap GPS-guided audio tour...
The following is from a press release announcing the launch of the History Along the Maumee driving tour:
If you enjoyed the Unholy Toledo Tour, or any of the other tours produced by Tedd Long for Holy Toledo History, you’ll want to check out his latest project, a GPS-enabled driving tour that weaves its way along the Maumee River from downtown Toledo to Grand Rapids and back to East Toledo. It’s called, History Along the Maumee.
Long, a local author, storyteller and curator of www.holytoledohistory.com, created the tour using VoiceMap, a location-aware mobile application that works by associating voice narration, music and sound effects to specific GPS coordinates—creating an engaging story that is told over the course of a drive or walk. The result is an immersive experience best described as a movable podcast. After downloading the free VoiceMap app and purchasing Long’s tour for $9.99, VoiceMap users can put their phone in their pocket or car’s console and follow Long’s voice as he shares stories, anecdotes, commentary and directions automatically at specific GPS locations along the tour route.
Always on the lookout for content for his tours and local history website, Long came up with this project while researching information at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library a few years ago. When a local history librarian helped him uncover a 70-year old typewritten bus tour script written by Kathryn Keller for the Maumee Valley Historical Society in 1950, Long knew just what to do.
“I knew the minute I read it that it needed to be dusted off, updated, and shared with the public,” Long said. “My other tours have been pretty popular, particularly during the 2020 pandemic. People were looking for something to do and still practice social distancing. I still love those tours but they covered very specific subjects and time periods, Unholy Toledo was all about gangsters, History & Hops was all about beer history, and the Woodlawn tour covers people buried in Woodlawn Cemetery & Arboretum. This History Along the Maumee tour really intrigues me because of the range of the timeline, from the 1700’s to modern day, and the scope of the stories that are explored. It’s an epic tour and the technology is so cool,” Long added.
The 3-hour driving tour follows the Maumee upriver from downtown Toledo to Grand Rapids where it crosses the bridge and follows the Maumee downriver to East Toledo, ending on the MLK bridge. Highlights include the Middlegrounds, Danny Thomas Park, Walbridge Park, Fort Miami, Maumee, Fallen Timbers, Roche de Bout, Providence, Weirs Rapids, Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, Toledo's Gold Coast, and Rossford.
History Along the Maumee can be downloaded via VoiceMap’s Android and iOS apps which are available from the Apple or Google Play Stores. For more information, visit Long’s website at www.holytoledohistory.com/tours.