Your roadside companion that reads historical markers aloud.
I’m Hope. And I’m Michael. We’re your narrators for Hands-Free History. When you press GO, we’ll start searching and notify you when we find the next historical marker. The road is calling. Let’s go!
Want a 30-second overview? — Show Me How To
Tap Location: Off to turn it on and allow location access. Tap Location: On to stop tracking.
Tap Audio Off to turn audio on. Audio On turns audio off. If a story has no recording yet, read it below.
Tap GO to start a trip and find the nearest marker. Pause Story pauses only the story audio; it never stops the search. Play Story resumes the story audio.
Found stories are saved automatically to Saved Stories.
Your saved trips and stories are stored locally and are not shared. Only use your phone when stopped. Location is used to find markers near you.
Enjoy the Ride.
Listen — preserved recordings
Stories play in recorded narrator voices when a recording exists. Otherwise read the story below. Three preserved recordings wired through this build's own data (one Virginia story of each preserved voice, one North Carolina narration). If a player loads its file and shows a duration, local playback works end to end.
1. Markers
2. Import markers — easy import, with checks
Import a CSV or GeoJSON file. Required columns/fields: source_id, state, title, latitude, longitude, location, inscription, source_url.
Rows missing coordinates, title, or source are quarantined, not imported, and never invented.
Duplicates (same source_id, or same title + coordinates) are flagged, never silently merged.
You preview first, then commit.
3. Saved Trips
Pick markers from the list above (tick them), name the trip, and save it. Or make an auto corridor trip from the markers in list order. Trips are saved in this browser only. Trips save automatically; found stories save automatically to Saved Stories.
4. Drive — GO / PAUSE / END
Tap Audio On, then tap GO. Mount your phone before driving and connect it to Bluetooth. Hands-Free History searches silently and reads each story it finds. Pause Story and Play Story pause and resume only the voice, never the search. The search continues until the app is closed. Only use your phone when stopped.
Choose a saved trip, then GO. Each stop shows title, location, and story text. If a stop has no recording: Title and location only — no recording available.
The road is calling. Enjoy the ride.