San Francisco's Buried History

FAIN: MN-263956-19

Exploratorium (San Francisco, CA 94111-1454)
Robert Rothfarb (Project Director: June 2018 to present)

Production of a mobile-optimized website, a walking tour, and a museum exhibition exploring the history of underground and submerged sites in downtown San Francisco and the Bay.

The Exploratorium seeks support for the production and distribution of San Francisco's Buried History, a project that uses digital technology to engage the public in a physical and virtual exploration of the urban history of Downtown San Francisco. Specifically, Buried History uses a mobile-optimized web site, a walking tour, and accompanying museum exhibit to explore seventeen underground sites that provide fascinating clues as to how the landscape was used and altered over time, as well as to how past inhabitants of the area lived, worked and died. The project will prompt the public to become curious about the rich historical and cultural information right beneath their feet, and the story that information tells of how and why human activity transformed the landscape of San Francisco. In doing so, Buried History will engage users in adopting a more nuanced sense of place—encouraging its audience to learn from historical insights while developing perspectives on contemporary issues.

Associated Products

San Francisco's Buried History Exhibit Kiosk (Exhibition)
Title: San Francisco's Buried History Exhibit Kiosk
Curator: Rob Rothfarb
Abstract: The Exploratorium has adapted both the website and the printed map with AR overlays as an exhibit in the museum’s Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery. The website is presented there in a touch-screen exhibit format and the companion map is printed in a large size and available for viewing and exploration by visitors in the gallery’s Map Table collection. At the kiosk, visitors are able to use a touchscreen to explore the map, tour stops, and the audio and visual components of each stop. Printed maps are available at the kiosk so visitors can then embark on the walking tour should they choose.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.buriedhistory.exploratorium.edu

San Francisco's Buried History Website (Web Resource)
Title: San Francisco's Buried History Website
Author: Rob Rothfarb
Abstract: The site (buriedhistory.exploratorium.edu) includes an interactive, zoomable map that features overlays of historical and scientific information. Multimedia elements are presented corresponding to the mobile-optimized website’s featured locations, including historic map layers, audio stories, photographs, and illustrations. A companion printed map showing locations of buried ships, historic structures, and historic landscape features is available for download as a PDF document from the website, so a visit to the Exploratorium is not necessary to pick up a map and enjoy the rich content of the website and walking tour. The physical map supplements the website’s interactive map through its inclusion of marker icons which trigger augmented reality (AR) overlays within the web browser when users point their mobile device or computer’s camera at the markers.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.buriedhistory.exploratorium.edu
Primary URL Description: The homepage for San Francisco's Buried History, which includes access to a tour map, project images and recordings, and Augmented Reality components.

San Francisco's Buried History Walking Tour (Audio and AR Components) (Web Resource)
Title: San Francisco's Buried History Walking Tour (Audio and AR Components)
Author: Rob Rothfarb
Abstract: The walking tour comprises 12 stops throughout downtown San Francisco that each include interactive audio and visual components. The tour stops are as follows: Tour Stop 1: The Seawall Tour Stop 2: Telegraph Hill Tour Stop 3: Yerba Buena Cove Tour Stop 4: Cisterns Tour Stop 5: The Niantic Tour Stop 6: General Harrison Tour Stop 7: Fort Vigilance Tour Stop 8: Transit and Exchange Tour Stop 9: Yellamu Shellmounds Tour Stop 10: Sand Dunes Tour Stop 11: Ship-Breaking Yard Tour Stop 12: Rincon Hill
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.buriedhistory.exploratorium.edu/tour-stops

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