Marin History Museum Launches Smartphone App

The recently joined a small group of museums that offer mobile applications for the community.

The Marin History Museum app launched on April 26 and gives users access to the largest and most extensive collection of Marin County related historic content. The museum is one of less than a dozen national museums, including New York MOMA, the Smithsonian Institutions, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Natural History, that have developed applications as part of their public offerings.

“We are thrilled to be the only county history museum with such an advanced mobile application,” Museum Director Michelle Kaufman said. “This is an exciting era in our own organization’s history and we are so grateful to have this opportunity to share this resource with Marin”.

The app, made possible with a donation from Marin resident Michael J. Sullivan, allows users to travel through the history of the county by viewing an interactive map of the county with over 250 points of historical interest marked by geo-coded icons. Users can click each icon to gain access to virtual exhibitions of audio, video and licensable photographs from the vast Marin History Museum archives.

Of the 250 historic locations, there are ancient Miwok Indian sites, historic residences, regional and local historical societies, movie filming locations, state and national historic landmarks and more than 75 historic shipwrecks off the Marin coast dating back to 1595.

Each mapped site includes an image and text describing its historic significance. The app will be updated monthly and is available for free for a limited time on iPhone, iPad and Android platforms online and on the app store.

Additional features allow you to create your own “virtual tour” of Marin County’s historic hotspots and give users GPS-like proximity to historic sites.

“It’s a great educational tool and tremendous resource for Marin residents and visitors alike to learn more about the history all around them and it’s impact on the history of California,” said George Thelen, volunteer and project manager for the app.