Web-based tours lead to local discoveries

After learning about the Discover Waseca County app, I decided to give it a try. Begun as a project by Waseca Senior High School students in a social studies class, it has been expanded and broadened with information from a variety of sources to let visitors know about the history, shopping, parks, restaurants, churches and unique features in Waseca County and its communities. There are interactive maps, narration, pictures, videos and GPS mapping and guides.

 

With my choice of Janesville, New Richland, Waldorf and Waseca, I decided to use the app to find out more about Waldorf.

 

As I opened the app to install it on my phone, I was warned it might “take a few minutes” to load, but I found no problem and was done in under a minute.  As I approached Waldorf from the north, the first prompt from the app was “Books by Judy Joecks.” The app let me know Judy is a Waldorf native who put together a history of the town and shared a bit more information about her. With just a touch of a button, her books can be downloaded and read.

 

The next alert let me know about the town’s creamery, Plum Valley, which closed in 1984 after 88 years; when it closed, it was the last one operating in Waseca County. The app informed me the creamery’s name was chosen because “of a dense thick of plum trees that grew along the natural drainage ditch running to the northwest of the site.” 

 

As I reached 126 Main Street, another notice let me know that was once the location of a grocery store, Deml’s Market, which was open until 1983.

 

The voice providing the narration was pleasant and didn’t rush through the information. I recalled that John Hanson, Waseca teacher and lover of history, attended the Waldorf city council meeting in May, alerting council members of this new county-wide feature and three-year project. Many had not heard of it. Hanson let city councils know the tours can be set to share information based on location or on category. When looking for shops, he said, visitors would 29 of them, along with 33 different churches, and 25 different parks. The parks tour also describes the amenities offered at each park. The app offers histories of various highlighted locations and notable occurrences from throughout the county. 

 

As I continued touring Waldorf, I came across a historic summary of the former Jan’s Hardware, closed in 1999, and Ewert’s Fairway which succumbed to a fire in 1957.

 

The app shared information about groups and organizations, too. I learned about Tractor Pull contests once held in town, and about the gardening club the Petal Pushers. 

 

After learning all that, I discovered there was more to learn as I drove homeward. While focusing on the road, I’d forgotten the app was still running, so I was taken a bit by surprise when the app kicked in unexpectedly to let me know I was in the vicinity of the “Pink Schoolhouse.” A quick history lesson let me know the structure “was built in Wilton Township to replace the one built in 1866. In 1951 the school closed and most of the students were transferred to Waldorf.” Henry Bauman, who bought the building, promised to keep it as is because, “It’s a landmark around here.”

 

I had no trouble navigating the app and highly recommend it to anyone interested in local history and culture. I suggest giving it a try no matter what your interests–after all, you don’t know what you don’t know.