New iTours bring history to life in Kansas

Two new “iTours” can now be streamed or downloaded on the Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau website. The tours, one tracing the route of Quantrill’s Raid of the city in 1863 and the other narrating the rich history of Downtown Lawrence, are available at no charge on the website to bring the heritage of the region to life for visitors.

“We’re pleased to be using today’s technology to make history exciting and accessible,” said Judy Billings, LCVB Director. “These iTours are an important step toward interpreting our history for guests and bringing the Bleeding Kansas stories into today.”

The tours provide driving directions and narrative and can be listened to in the car or on personal iPods. In conjunction with the rollout of the new tours, iPods can now be checked out from the Lawrence Visitor Information Center so that visitors can utilize the technology while they’re in town.

The tours were researched and authored by local historians and LCVB staff and narrated by Lawrence residents. A historic cemeteries tour will be added in coming weeks.

“These tours are a great complement to the annual Civil War on the Western Frontier activities that are happening August 9-21 throughout the area,” Billings said. “That commemoration brings a number of visitors to our community each year and this is a good time to unveil this way of learning more about the area in the pre-Civil War era context.”

To view the iTours go to: Vvisitlawrence.com/lawrence_itours/