Dorchester historic sites being filmed with 360-degree cameras

DORCHESTER COUNTY, Md. – The Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area is using some new technology to allow people to tour historic sites in Dorchester County from home. Manager Julie Gilberto-Brady tells 47ABC they bought a 360-degree camera, and are working on taking videos of their sites for people to view on YouTube. “What’s great about Youtube is they accept these types of videos and it comes out just like it should, so anybody who’s watching it can swipe with their finger or with the mouse – wipe left or right or up or down – and you can see everything around the person who’s doing the talking,” said Gilberto-Brady.

The videos allow people to navigate the view, and look all around the site they’re showing. The YouTube channel is called Dorchester County Tourism. The first site they filmed was the Handsell Historic House. Gilberto-Brady tells us this is an important way to keep people connected with the history of their area. “It’s a way of staying connected with your fans, with tourists, and reminding them that you’re still here and this is what you have available when the restrictions are no longer in place. So the people see a little bit and think ‘oh I want to come out and do that once the restrictions are lifted!” said Gilberto-Brady.

Gilberto-Brady also says that she and her team are taking suggestions from the public on which sites they should film next. If you’d like to tour a part of Dorchester’s history from home, you can email Julie at julie@visitdorchester.org.