LocalLores

Every place has a story. The creek where kids went strawberry picking. These stories live in the people who were there and when they go, the stories usually go with them.

Every place has a story. The creek where kids went strawberry picking. The foundation stones of a mill nobody remembers. The corner where the old hotel burned down in '58. These stories live in the people who were there — and when they go, the stories usually go with them.

Local Lore is a community map for the history that never made it into a book.

DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED HERE

Open the map and see the stories pinned around you. Switch between street and satellite view, tap any pin to read the full account, and browse a distance-sorted list of everything nearby. Found something you want to visit? Tap Directions and go stand in the place it happened.

SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW

Drop a pin, tell the story. Add up to four photographs — old family pictures, a shot of what's there now, a scan of a newspaper clipping. Cite a source if you have one.

RECORD IT IN YOUR OWN VOICE

Some stories shouldn't be typed. Local Lore lets you attach an audio recording to any Lore, so a grandparent's telling can be preserved exactly as they told it — the pauses, the accent, the laugh. Anyone who finds that pin can hear it.

SHARE WITHIN A GROUP

Some history belongs to a smaller circle. Create a Lore Group for your family, your historical society, your class, or your neighborhood — and share stories visible only to its members. Perfect for a family's private map of the old homestead, or a research group gathering sites before they're ready to publish.

A COMMUNITY WORTH TRUSTING

Every submission is reviewed by a moderator before it goes public. Readers can upvote the stories that ring true. The result is a map you can actually rely on, not a wall of noise.

KEEP SOMETHING TO YOURSELF

Not every story is ready to publish. Mark a Lore as hidden and it stays off the public map — visible only to you — until you decide otherwise.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Explore a map of local history, near you or anywhere Read stories with photos, sources, and audio Search by place name or address See how far each Lore is from where you're standing Get walking or driving directions to any story Contribute your own — text, up to four images, and a voice recording Create Lore Groups and share stories with just those members Vote on the stories you find Keep drafts and private notes hidden from the public map

BEFORE YOU START

Local Lore is about places, not people. We ask contributors not to use their real names — the app will generate an anonymous username for you if you'd like. Please don't pin stories to private homes, and think carefully before publishing a location you wouldn't want publicly known.

History is a collaborative act. Add what you know.