Mission

American Guides Project
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Generate greater public interest in the historic, cultural, and environmental heritage of America; support local heritage education, preservation, and tourism programs.

We support local heritage education, preservation, and tourism by creating the first comprehensive online guide to local American heritage.

Without a new strategy, much of our local history, and our environment, is doomed to extinction. Often without our knowledge, historic structures, farms, and scenic assets are destroyed through neglect, or thoughtless development. Less "significant," but locally valuable historic homes, woodlands, fields & wetlands, parks & scenic areas suffer from lack of funding and similar "development pressures." We're also losing significant sources of local history, community stories and traditions, whenever we lose one of our elderly residents or a local museum closes.

As we neglect this local heritage, a community becomes just a spot on the map, with no special reason to work, live or play there. Our citizens become increasingly disconnected from the communities in which they live. And without our special environments, rich local history and cultural traditions, we lose an important source of business and cultural innovation - the very source of our competitive advantage as a nation.

A primary goal of the Federal Writers' Project was to encourage every American to re-discover the nation's heritage - in particular the contributions of common folks, the people who really built our nation. Today, we need to encourage a new generation of Americans to do the same, to help discover and protect the heritage of our American communities.

History isn't about dates. It's a collection of stories about people and places. Without the narrative, the "background story," a place will always seem empty and meaningless. Cultural traditions are silly, until you understand the deeper meaning and symbolism, brought to life by stories of that community. If no one tells its story, we don't get the relationship between a scene, nature and humanity, and we never will appreciate our environment.

The American Guide Seriesstarted out to be merely tour guides, then became a celebrated collection of great American stories - tales of people, places, and nature all across the USA, many of which won't be found elsewhere. And that's our vision for the new American Guide Series.

The American Guides Project (the “Project”), is a 501(c)3, non-profit educational charity.