The Trail Museum and Archives and the City of Trail have partnered with On the Spot to launch a new series of interactive walking tours and gamified scavenger hunts, available now as an app. The launch is part of the city-wide Trail 125 celebrations, marking 125 years since Trail’s incorporation.
The free app lets residents and visitors explore downtown Trail through historical photographs pinned to the exact locations where they were taken. Standing in front of historic hotels, City Hall, and other landmarks, users can pull up century-old images on their devices, see how each site has changed, and learn the stories behind them.
The app also includes an innovative then-and-now camera and editor, that allows users to reshoot historic photos and blend them together, effectively allowing people to superimpose themselves into historic photos. Working with the Montreal start-up ARify, the app also includes an interactive augmented reality experience that brings the historic flood mural along the Esplanade to life.
Currently there are two scavenger hunts, one covering downtown Trail and the other around Gyro Park. They feature skill-testing questions, photo restaging challenges, and a variety of puzzles designed to get people out and learning about the city and its history.
The tours draw on research and photographs from the Trail Museum & Archives’ collection, developed in partnership with the museum’s staff. Additional tours and scavenger hunts are planned for the months to come, including those covering Trail’s famous rock walls.
This project was made possible with support from the Columbia Basin Trust, Teck Trail operations, and FortisBC.
The On This Spot app is free to download and available on iOS and Android and can be accessed at https://onthisspot.ca.
On This Spot tours are available for other Kootenay communities as well, including Castlegar, Edgewood, and Fernie.
