You are one bead on the string of a long and beautiful necklace.

How much do you know about your own town? Do you know when (and why) people first settled there, and what natural resources or economic opportunities drew them to that place? Do you know how the demographics of your town have changed over time? Do you know what industries have fueled your town’s growth across the generations? Do you have a sense of your town’s natural layout, its topography, and why each distinct neighborhood formed where it formed? Do you know what people, ideas, or events of significance have come from your town? Are there places that a friend would ask to see if they were visiting you, but that you never really gave a thought to or visited yourself? There are a hundred different questions you can ask about the town you live in, and each of them is an opportunity for adventure as you seek out the answers. Consider looking at your own town through the eyes of a newcomer, and searching for a deeper knowledge of⏤and connection to⏤this place you call home.

All around you are the traces and remnants of the people who came before you. You live here today, but someone else lived here yesterday, and someone else the yesterday before that. Many of these neighbors from a different era made a lasting mark that can still be found today if you look carefully. Some are obvious, like a majestic building or a thriving business, and others are more subtle, like a local tradition or a shortcut through the woods. Every town is essentially a multigenerational collaboration that never stops evolving. To explore your town through the eyes of a visitor is to look at it as not just a place, but as an ongoing story.

Almost every town has storytellers. They almost all have story-keepers, too. These are the people who run the local historical societies. They are the individuals (often volunteers) who preserve and protect the photos, documents, timelines, and memories of a place. While you certainly can, and should, consult the travel sites to determine the “must-see” places in your town, consider also getting input from these story-keepers on what there is to discover. You will find that they have a more intimate knowledge than a travel site ever could, and that they know the true heart of your home the way only a local can. They preserve this knowledge precisely for the purpose of passing it down and sharing it, so enjoy this generous resource.

Another fun approach is to ask a friend to host you on a tour the way you would host a friend visiting you from out of town. Let that person take you around to the places of interest and significance to them, and share in their enthusiasm for⏤and knowledge of⏤the people, places, and things in your town that came before you.

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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