AUBURN — A digital walking tour of historic riverfront spots around the Twin Cities seeks to teach history as it showcases the way the area has changed and the way the Androscoggin River has shaped it.

“So many folks are visiting the area now that the river is cleaner,” said Michael Auger, executive director of the Androscoggin Land Trust. “People are starting to get out there, but they don’t understand the wonderful history of the Twin Cities and the importance of the river to the cities and the economic vitality now.”

The tour is part of the TravelStorysGPS app available on smartphones on iTunes and Google Play app stores.

The app uses GPS technology to trigger audio narrations once the device nears certain points on the map.

It includes narrated histories of the area, including the original Abenaki camp sites at the foot of the Greats Falls, the history of the Bates Mill Enterprise Complex and the farmers markets in Bates Mill No. 5 parking lot each Sunday this summer. The narration was read by Land Trust President Jim Pross.

“We really wanted a tour for both residents who have been here all their lives and visitors,” he said. “They can see what a resource this river is.”

The app provides photographs of each location, including historic and current snapshots.

Users can stay at home and click on the map landmarks to hear the narrations and see the pictures.

Auger said the project has been in the works for more than a year and relies on histories provided by the Androscoggin Historical Society and the Ne-Do-Ba Abenaki history group. Local photographers, including Sun Journal photographers Daryn Slover and Russ Dillingham, provided photos for the tour.

Auger said the land trust hopes to have a second tour available on the app later this summer. It would be a paddling tour for canoes and kayaks along the Androscoggin River in Lewiston-Auburn. It would encourage paddlers to investigate the canal outlets and other features of the riverfront that normally escape notice, such as tunnels and canal outlets.

“It would be very similar to the area of the walking tour but from the perspective of being in the water,” Auger said.

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