AnzaHistoricTrail.org Connects Communities to History, Culture, and Outdoor Recreation Along 1,200-Mile Historic Trail
Launch Date Coincides with San Francisco Anniversary Commemoration
SAN FRANCISCO /June 27, 2013/ -- The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and the Anza Trail Foundation have launched http://www.AnzaHistoricTrail.org - an online Anza Trail experience to connect communities with history, culture, and outdoor recreation along the trail’s 1,200-mile corridor.
In 1775-76, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza led more than 240 men, women, and children on a perilous overland journey from present-day Mexico to establish the first colonial settlement at San Francisco Bay. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail commemorates this turning point in American history.
AnzaHistoricTrail.org is a dynamic online experience that maps the legacy of the Anza Expedition throughout present-day California and Arizona. Approximately 36 million people live in the 20 counties through which the trail passes.
The website’s backbone is cutting-edge web-mapping technology developed by the nonprofit GreenInfo Network. Users can tailor the map to create their own Anza Trail experience:
• Zoom to street level to see where the expedition party traveled
• Locate local Anza Trail interpretation sites, recreation trails, and auto tour route
• Follow an animated timeline to read expedition diaries in English and Spanish
• Users are also invited to help document and share the Anza Trail story. By launching the site's MapCollaborator portal, they can add and edit information and photos directly on the map.
The Anza Trail officially launches the new site on June 27, the date in 1776 when the Anza Expedition families arrived to establish a presidio in San Francisco. Every year on June 27, Los Californianos, an organization that includes descendants of expedition members, gathers at the Presidio of San Francisco to honor their ancestors’ legacy.
The new website will serve as the online home for the Anza Trail, including the online magazine Noticias de Anza, and a list of trail-related events. It complements and incorporates the trail’s other online resources, including: Web de Anza, the University of Oregon's database of primary resources relating to the expedition; the Anza Trail Guide, by Anza Expedition descendant, Greg P. Smestad, Ph.D.; and the National Park Service's administrative site.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
