New Street View imagery lands for national parks and cultural sites

By Trevor Mogg February 12, 2016

street view national parks alcatraz — Alcatraz

Street View fans now have even more of an excuse to stay stuck on the sofa after Google on Thursday rolled out a load more panoramic imagery for national parks and other sites of interest across the nation.

The new content, which also includes thousands of photos of various artifacts from the new locations, comes as the National Park Service gears up to celebrate its 100th birthday later this year.

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Among the fresh 360-degree imagery you’ll find the infamous Alcatraz prison in San Francisco, the preserved cliff dwellings of Montezuma Castle in Arizona, the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Pennsylvania, and Ford’s Theatre – the site of President Lincoln’s assassination – in Washington, D.C. You can also peruse collections of related items from each site.

“From America’s ‘crown jewels’ of breathtaking parklands to cultural sites and historic treasures, the National Park Service museum collections provide a window into the United States: past, present, and future,” Google said in a message introducing the new content.

The Google Cultural Institute partnered with the National Park Service to build the online collection of nearly 4,000 items from more than 350 national park sites.

“This marriage of technology and history means that anyone, anywhere can see artifacts and sites that provide a taste of the rich and diverse story of America,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a release, adding, “Our hope is that this partnership will not only illustrate and elevate our nation’s history and culture, but inspire more people to visit the wonderfully diverse places that the National Park Service protects and preserves for current and future generations.”

Indeed, nothing beats visiting a location in person, but wherever you are in the U.S., or indeed in the world, somewhere is always too far away, leaving services like Street View as a viable and fun option for bringing those distant places much closer.

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