Little Farmer by Bridget Hein, Monticello, IA, Facebook Most Liked: Life on the Farm

National Heritage Areas tell great stories as well as containing beautiful places. Several NHAs hold photo contests to share these stories and unique places.

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area hosts the Capture the Heart of America Photo Contest, allowing photographers from across the nation to contribute to preserving their piece of America's agricultural story. The contest included 174 photographers from 24 states.

 

"Photos tell stories that are often hard to convey with words alone. Our photo contest offers a unique opportunity to capture and share a diversity of American agricultural stories," commented Don Short, SSNHA President. See the images: www.silosandsmokestacks.org  

 

 

"More than just beautiful photographs of interesting places and unique architecture, the photo contest and calendar help us to show how our proud past is woven into the fabric of the present," said Beth Sciumeca, former Executive Director of the Erie Canalway NHC. "These outstanding images remind people what makes our canal heritage worth preserving and celebrating."  

Rockport Dock, by Ken Jordan  Essex Heritage Grand Prize

From rocky coasts and harbors, to rural farms and historic towns, Essex Heritage annual photo contest encourages photographers of all ages to "capture" the living landscapes, unique places and people of Essex. 

What if Twitter was available 150 years ago? Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area and Lawrence, Kansas, Convention & Visitors Bureau posed that question for #QR1863, a Twitter minute-by-minute reenactment of Quantrill's Raid. 

 

On August 21, 2013, 36 re-enactors, and actors from Lawrence Arts Center gathered at 4:30 a.m. at the Carnegie Building with laptops and smart phones and tweeter as if the raid was happening. It was the 150th anniversary of the day William Quantrill and 400 murderous men left Lawrence burning and survivors mourning. 

 

That evening, Watkins Community Museum hosted scholars Jonathan Earle and Jeremy Neely, who discussed the raid. Audience reaction was similar to this tweet: "I'm finding #QR1863 haunting and moving. Didn't really expect to."

 

#QR1863 trended worldwide, reaching 1.3 million people. The Washington Post, The Kansas City Star, Lawrence Journal-World, Boing-Boing, and 6News in Lawrence covered it. Kansas City's FOX affiliate broadcast live from the Carnegie Building. Lawrence Public Library, Kansas Humanities Council, City of Lawrence, WOW!, and The Castle Tea Room co-sponsored and promoted #QR1863.

 

#QR1863 received awards from Kansas Museums Association, and the Travel Industry Association of Kansas. It is the subject of the November NHA Best Practices Call. Read all tweets at www.1863Lawrence.com.

The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area's (ALNHA) own city of Springfield was honored to receive the 2013 Governor's Hometown Award for History Comes Alive (HCA). The 12 week program features daily living history events offered free-of-charge to visitors at the key Lincoln sites in Springfield and throughout the downtown. 

 

The History Comes Alive program has resulted in: increased visitation and collaboration among the Lincoln sites and increased tourism revenue for the city of Springfield. 

 

The program was designed to drive visitors to Lincoln sites as well as into shops and restaurants as a business-driver within the historic downtown. The program is a collaborative effort of the HCA Coalition comprised of the NPS, Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, Lincoln historic sites, IL Office of Tourism, IL Historic Preservation Agency, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, Illinois State Museum, Downtown Springfield, Inc. and local small business owners. The Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition plans to replicate the model throughout the area. 

 

Augusta Canal's evaluation reports: Augusta Canal National Heritage Area is at the epicenter of the city's renewal; its national heritage area status a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval." The 11-mile canal, once called the Savannah River's "brightest arm," was seriously deteriorated. 

Today, because of the work of the Augusta Canal Authority, the towpath is a hub of recreation, and the Enterprise Mill is transformed into apartments, offices, and a visitor center. The canal is again vital, the prime supply of drinking water, flood-control, and hydroelectric power. 

 

Read the findings of the evaluation and a summary snapshot. 

 

Silos and Smokestacks NHA "gravitates to fill the most needed niche in the preservation and economic landscape," according to the evaluation. The area meets its goals with a mix of grants, technical assistance, educational development, and awareness building, a key goal instilling a preservation ethic among kids. Over a hundred partner sites join hands in carrying out the mission. Kids are immersed in a host of experiences, thanks in part to bus grants that get them there. 

 

Read the evaluation and the summary snapshot.

 

Essex National Heritage Area, works closely with two national parks, Salem Maritime National Historic Site and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site to take the message to schools. Together they developed curricula, programs, and sponsored youth jobs. Their success is routed in partnership to glue together the regional identify. Essex is often able to tap resources that others cannot because of their connections to community leaders, stakeholders, and volunteers.

 

Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area (HRVNHA) sponsored the 14th Annual Hudson River Valley Ramble in September. Attendance at this year's Ramble is estimated at 120,000 participants. In a 2012 Economic Impact Study sponsored by the NPS, the Ramble and the associated visitor spending were estimated to generate an economic impact of approximately $21 million annually for the region.

 

Ramble events are led by naturalists, ecologists, historians, geologists and volunteers from groups, including environmental, conservation, trails, heritage and historic preservation organizations. The volunteer hours from these organizations is 18,250 hours, with an estimated dollar value of $524,365.

 

Ramble events take place at HRVNHA sites and interpret themes such as the Revolutionary War and the Hudson River School painters, while other events highlight the natural resources of the Hudson River and its Estuary. Events ranged from hikes in the Catskill Mountains to guided strolls through historic downtowns.

 

Nearly 140 riders participated in the Schuylkill River Heritage Area Cycles & Cemeteries Ride. While a bike ride that incorporates tours of historic cemeteries is unusual, the event proved both fun and interesting. Riders enjoyed beautiful fall weather, Civil War-related cemetery tours and 14- or 28-mile rides along the Schuylkill River Trail.

 

In keeping with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, cyclists visited two cemeteries, beginning at Montgomery Cemetery in Norristown where guides provided details about Civil War nurses and Gettysburg Generals Zook and Hancock, all buried there. After pedaling to Philadelphia's historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, they saw a living history presentation about Gen. Meade.

 

The Cycles & Cemeteries Ride is the second ride in the Schuylkill River Trail Bike Tour Series. The series promotes connections from the trail to historic sites and attractions. The Rails and River Towns Ride featured walking tours of two historic villages and a presentation about the railroad that the trail replaced. www.schuylkillriver.org 

The University of Maryland's Future of Information Alliance hosted a seminar in December titled The Future of the Past: Engaging with History: Keeping the Stories Alive and Lively, in the Baltimore National Heritage Area.

 

The event hosted by the NPS at Fort McHenry National Monument included a discussion about the value of both place-based learning and virtual tools for engaging students and their teachers. The presenters included Daniel Russell, Google's "director of user happiness," Burt Kummerow from the Maryland Historical Society, Amy Rosenkrans from Baltimore City Public Schools, and Stephanie Toothman from the National Park Service.  

In the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area farm-to-table is a way of life rather than a culinary trend. 

 

Several standouts are successfully combining sustainable agriculture with local appetites. In Elkmont, Belle Chevre opened a creamery, cheese shop and tasting room that includes tours and "Saturday Suppers," while in Florence, fashion house Alabama Chanin added a café highlighting local and seasonal ingredients to its headquarters.

 

A trio of brothers are producing creative and worth-lining-up-for flavors for their locally produced Shirey Ice Cream. Jack-O-Lantern Farm, a hydroponic operation, produces Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, raw honey and baked goods and sells products along with free-range chickens, eggs and items from local producers at its market. MSNHA supports agritourism and food tourism by encouraging and promoting all of these efforts.

An inaugural ride along McClintock Trail was held in September in Oil Region National Heritage Area. 40 bicyclists ranging in age from 3 to 92 were followed by another 40 'inspectors' on board special passenger cars pulled by a Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad engine. This marked the first time in more than 30 years that non-employees were on a train rolling through Oil City, PA.  

 

The McClintock Trail is a multiple-purpose recreational trail along Oil Creek valley. This 4-mile trail is a segment of the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail which is planned from "The Point" in Pittsburgh to Presque Isle at Erie, PA on Lake Erie. The paved trail is separated by a fence from the active WNYPRR tracks. 

 

Funding for the McClintock Trail was made possible by a combination of NPS NHA grants, Pennsylvania DCNR support, the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Phillips Charitable Trust, the Justus Charitable Trust, and other donors.  

 

How do you connect 44,000 acres of parkland and more than 125 miles of trails found in a County Park district, a National Park and a National Heritage Area, integrate levels of government, and then join the combined trail knowledge from these partners into a single, online platform all residents can use?

 

Three Code for America (CfA) Fellows worked with partners in Summit County Ohio on a Civic Tech project that put technology to work to find the solution. A web app, ToTheTrails.com was the answer.

 

"For the first time, trail users will have a single, online option to see how to move from trail-to-trail in Summit County," explained County of Summit Executive Russell M. Pry. "Prior to this point, the ability to map online connections between separately managed trail systems wasn't in place," he continued.

 

"Users can soon discover that their favorite Towpath section bumps up against the Buckeye Trail in one area, CVNP's Blue Hen Falls in another, or easily map a connection to Metro Park, Serving Summit County's Bike & Hike Trail," added Dan Rice, President & CEO of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition and Co-Executive Director of the National Heritage Area.

 

"This project is designed to guide all Summit County residents and visitors 'to the trails' - some of our area's greatest quality-of-life amenities," noted Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic. 

 

The project was made possible through a $250,000 Knight Foundation grant to Summit County. Additional funds, time and talent came from partners.

 

Poudre Heritage Alliance is also proud to announce new online mobile-friendly Poudre River Heritage Tours at www.poudrerivertour.com, or by scanning QR codes placed on existing Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area signs. The thirteen informative videos and nineteen audio segments explore the Poudre River history, wildlife, habitat, rafting, economy and recreation.  

 

The short format tours are great for quick overviews of the significant heritage elements of the Poudre River area and provide an up close experience, whether you are standing by the river accessing them on a smart phone, or indoors on a tablet or laptop. As a living, working river, the Poudre River has changed over the years, including this year, when an epic mid-September rainstorm caused historic flooding throughout the Heritage Area. 

Sybil Cypress joined the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance as the new Operations Assistant. Sybil will manage two sites: the Lithonia Woman's Club and Vaughters' Farmhouse. She will also support programs such as "Monadnock Madness" and tourism development. 

 

She was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Fredericksburg, VA. She attended Virginia State University and graduated with a BS in Business Information Systems. Sybil served as an officer in the U.S. Army, as well as working for Turner Broadcasting, Inc. and the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

 

She is the mother of her to two young men and believes that "as evolved humans, we must use logic along with a strong sense of a higher-good to steward our earth in harmony with natural order."