Story Trek lets people tune in to Denver history on mobile phones

By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 27, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

Text size  

• 1 Comment
• Email
• Print

Historic Denver Inc.'s new Story Trek heritage tour takes its cue from a younger generation's perspective on a modern technology.

At each of the tour's 21 stops, visitors can hear audio recordings about the location's significance via their cell phones. They also can use their cell phones to record their own memories and experiences to share with others.

Annie Robb Levinsky, director of the Molly Brown House Museum, one of the anchor organizations, said a group of Colorado teenagers participating in a Preserve America Summit last summer tested the heritage route and gave a thumbs up to audio via cell phones.

"We talked a lot to them about a podcast (a prerecorded audio program posted on a Web site), but then you have to go online and download it," Levinksy said. "They said, 'Everyone has a cell phone' and for their generation I'm sure that's true. (Information is) easy to access, it's at your fingertips, you don't have to wait for it."

Denver Story Trek is designed to tell the history of Denver from frontier days to modern times.

"The trek links the various periods of Denver's history and helps people understand the forces and personalities that shaped the city over the past 150 years," Steve Turner, executive director of Historic Denver, said in a statement.

Levinksy said the group has been working on the project for two years but the Democratic National Convention at the end of August served as an impetus to get it up and running.

Audio tours increasingly are used by museums and other venues across the country. Locally, Rocky Mountain Audio Guides offers audio tours of LoDo or the state Capitol for $13.95. The tours can be accessed by cell phone, online or by renting an MP3 player.

Denver Story Trek is free, paid in part by a grant from the Colorado Historical Society.

Anchor organizations include the Black American West Museum, Byers-Evans House Museum, Four Mile Historic Park, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art and the Molly Brown museum.

The trek is designed to be navigated by car, bus or bicycle. Segments of it can be done by walking. Many of the stops are near the Cherry Creek Bike Path, Civic Center or RTD light rail.

Denver Story Trek (denverstory trek.org) suggests routes by themes, including "Settling the Frontier," "Shedding the Frontier Rawness," "Convergence of Cultures," "Women and the West," and "Stage Stops, Railroads and Streetcars."

Short histories of each stop can be heard by calling a number and selecting a menu item. Personal recordings are uploaded to a Web site, where they are filtered and edited, Levinsky said.

As of last week, about 10 people had submitted their personal memories, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who talked about the historical significance of LoDo's Wynkoop Brewing Co. building, where he started a brewpub in 1988.

Denver Story Trek is using a California-based company called Guide by Cell, which has a stable of customers nationwide including the Museum of Modern Art, the Denver Botanic Gardens and StoryCorps.

The Molly Brown house, by the way, has quite a technological history of its own. The Denver Story Trek map notes that Molly Brown and her mining husband, J.J., arrived in Denver in 1894 and bought the 5-year-old mansion for its prestigious location and "modern technologies."

The house had electricity, a central heating system, hot and cold running water and a telephone, Levinsky said.

"And we do think (Molly) was technologically advanced herself," Levinsky said, adding that the Titanic survivor later owned an electric car.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155

• July 28, 2008

  1:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Mighty_Mile writes:

  nice information...except for the lack of a telephone number to call and participate. I'm no reporter, but that seems pretty important.

Featured

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Chiefs.

• Broncos Video

  

  Get the latest from Dove Valley as the Broncos prepare for Sunday's matchup.

• Calendar wallpaper

  

  Download this month's desktop wallpaper calendar

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Stirrin' the Soup with Matt Iseman

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.