Pennsylvania Launches New History Web Site

That Pennsylvania is a state rich in heritage and historical significance is certain. All across Pennsylvania, blue and gold historical markers denote the people, places, and events that have had a profound impact on the state and across the nation. More than 1,900 signs dot the Pennsylvania countryside, marking battlefields, homesteads, industrial sites, and other historic landmarks. But these signs have limitations: Long a frustration to historians and passersby alike, is in the kind and amount of information that is reasonable to cast on the plaques.

The latest way to experience the markers and the rich history of the Commonwealth is now available online. ExplorePAhistory.com is a new resource for heritage travelers and virtual visitors to the Commonwealth that makes history come alive in the classroom, on the highways and byways of the Commonwealth, and on the Internet. The site connects the markers that stretch across the state, providing background information and expanding the themes found in the necessarily brief text on the markers.

ExplorePAhistory.com allows visitors to search the state's history by region, keyword, or time period; provides the tourism tools to plan a visit to the state; and offers the first-ever standards-based curriculum resources for the teaching of Pennsylvania's history at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

For the virtual explorer, the site provides access to expert historical interpretation, rare original documents and images, and interactive audio and video components. Primary sources-such an excerpt from a 1776 youth's description of the Battle of Brandywine-are included in the stories and are available in their full-text versions on the site. ExplorePAhistory.com also provides complete multimedia standards-based curriculum resources for educators to teach Pennsylvania's history. Complete lesson plans are available in a downloadable, printer-friendly format. Lesson plans include suggested classroom activities, related web sites, and suggestions for assessment after the lesson.

For those interested in discovering the Commonwealth first-hand, the site offers lodging and restaurant information, directions to parks and entertainment attractions, information about historic destinations near the markers, and the opportunity to book reservations online.

The extensive resources on the site are the result of groundbreaking partnerships between state and federal agencies and the public-private sector. Visit ExplorePAhistory.com and see how the site instills a sense of place through an online introduction to the history that we all share.