Shepherd University just received a one year $15,000 GeoExplorer Grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council. The award will be combined with an additional $4,250 in support from the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission.

The project’s goal will be to create a web-based resource to track history based on the geographical location. To meet that goal, researchers will digitize the land grants from the colonial and early national period. These maps will be layered and include detailed information about features and people.

Keith Alexander, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies and coordinator of the SU Historic Preservation Program, said in a press release he sees this as an effort to share the historic landmarks with the citizens of Jefferson County and a new approach to preserve landmarks for the long term.

A symposium is scheduled for October 2011 to present the findings and to discuss how this project could be used elsewhere.

– From staff reports