LOCAL HISTORY, CONNECTED
Connect the People, Places, and Stories That Shaped Your community
Cultural Fabric is an Esri-based local-history mapping framework that connects cemeteries, census records, historic places, maps, photographs, documents, and life events into an evolving geographic portrait of a community
Local History is Connected
Historic people are connected to places, records, relationships, and life events. Burial records lead to people, people lead to residences, schools, churches, workplaces, migration stories, and community history. Census records connect individuals and households to historic enumeration districts, revealing the neighborhoods and communities they shared.
Cultural Fabric brings those connections into a shared geographic framework.
People
Life Events
Census Records
Enumeration Districts
Place
Community History
Find a Person. Map a Place. Build the Story.
Community members can digitize historic land parcels from georeferenced township plats and connect them to people found in census records and other sources.
Search by name, household relationship, occupation, age, veteran status, historical era, community role, or other documented characteristics. Then see where ancestors and historic community members lived—and help build a shared geographic record of local history.
Begin With One Gateway
A Cemetery
Burial records connect to people and families
An Historic Map
Georeferenced maps reveal land, parcels, and change over time.
A Person or Familiy
Explore lives, relationships, and life events.
A Place or District
Discover neighborhoods, districts, and community context.
A Collection
Photographs, documents, and artifacts add depth and meaning.
See What Becomes Possible
Historic records become more meaningful when they are connected to people and places.
Cultural Fabric could allow communities to:
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Search historic people using information documented in census, cemetery, land, military, and community records.
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Explore where individuals and households lived
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Digitize historic parcels from georeferenced township plats.
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Connect people to residences, farms, significant historical events, workplaces, cemeteries, and other life-event locations
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Discover neighbors, families, occupations, migration patterns, and relationships across time
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Build public maps, research tools, heritage trails, and community-history experiences as local projects develop.
Partnering with Institutions Who've Been in their Communities the Longest - Naturally.
♥ Cemeteries: Our first gateway to local history lies in the very places our founders are laid to rest. Simultaneously building cemetery management & mapping systems that empower cemetery managers to organize, preserve, and maintain accurate burial records is a natural starting point for building out life events from the deceased's memorials.
♥ County Partnerships: We are exploring county-level partnerships connected to the IMLS GIS Toolkit / GIS Map Exchange framework. We are building capacity for broader county-level collaborations.
♥ Local Pilot Projects: We invite interest in local pilot projects that help refine the Cultural Fabric model and demonstrate its value in your community.
♥ University Opportunities: Future partnership opportunities may include universities interested in building geospatial data such as enumeration district polygons. Your expertise helps strengthen the foundation for all.
♥ Library Volunteer Teams: Future partnership opportunities may include libraries with volunteer teams interested in bringing census records into the Cultural Fabric system. Volunteers power connections.
Your Community Retains Control
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Managed Contributions
Review and approve submissions
Documented Sources
Transparent citations and provenance
Public and private views
Share widely with appropriate access
Organizational Stewardship
You retain ownership and decision making