The Lake County Historical Society (LCHS) is pleased to have been awarded a $13,500 grant from the Cleveland Foundation Lake/Geauga Fund to bring our collections online through PastPerfect Museum Software and to provide mobile education and heritage tourism for residents and visitors through Curatescape, a platform developed by Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History + Digital Humanities.

Currently, LCHS has recorded 30,731 objects, photos, prints, books, genealogical files, and archives into the database. Now that we have launched our new website (March 2015), we have an increased ability to provide our researchers with online tools to help them in their exploration of Lake County history. Our online collections will offer both Keyword and Advanced Search features, and researchers can also browse through the collections using Random Images or catalog search. Customizable email forms will help us solicit feedback on items in the collection and provide online visitors the opportunity to request image reproductions. Additionally, online visitors can use the Email to a Friend button to share items from the collection.

Curatescape is the platform behind “Cleveland Historical.” It is an open source platform that lets visitors explore the people, places, and moments that have shaped the county’s history. Visitors can learn about the region through layered, map-based, multimedia presentations, use social media to share stories, and experience curated historical tours of Northeast Ohio.

LCHS is acting as the lead host of this platform, “Lake Historical,” and is also working with a variety of city and school offices including Downtown Painesville Organization, City of Painesville, and Painesville City Schools. Proposed historic tours of Lake County include: Underground Railroad, Goldsmith homes, James A. Garfield, Historic Churches, a special Republican National Convention Presidential Tour, and individual city/township tours of public and private sites, cemeteries, and historic districts.

“Lake Historical” will be a sub-domain of the LCHS current website and will be completely mobile-optimized. Visitors will be able to download tours and information before their arrival, or geo-locators within the platform allow you to explore the tour while on location. Each site is capable of holding multiple images, audio and video files, and text. We are unlimited in the amount of information per site, and number of sites and tours we can enter into the platform.

If you are interested in getting involved in “Lake Historical” and creating a tour or submitting a history, please contact Elizabeth Connor, Executive Director, at 440-639-2945.