‘Pokémon Go’ players stumble on hidden history
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Historical markers have long dotted the landscape, often barely noticed by passers-by — until they became treasure-filled stops this month on the Pokémon Go trail.
Players hunting for fictional creatures on their smartphones are now visiting real-life memorial plaques, statues, mosaics and landmarks, ranging from a Civil War battlefield in Chancellorsville, Va., to a Hells Angels clubhouse on New Zealand’s North Island.
Some don’t bother to linger at these Pokéstops, staying just long enough to stock up on the virtual balls they’ll use to bonk and capture the next Pokémon. But for others, the GPSpowered “augmented reality” game is heightening awareness of the history and geography of their neighborhoods.
“Before I was just going from Point A to Point B, but now I’m learning things,” said 15-year-old Jaiden Cruz as he walked by a plaque Wednesday in downtown Providence, marking where Abraham Lincoln spoke at an old railroad hall in 1860. The plaque is a Pokestop, and shortly before Cruz arrived, another player dropped a “lure module” that attracts Pokémon to the site.
The 380-year-old city abounds with Pokéstops, including the nation’s oldest Baptist church — founded by religious dissident Roger Williams in 1638 — and a stone marking where French troops camped during the Revolutionary War.
“It gets you to learn about your surroundings,” said 59-year-old Cheryl DiMarzio, who on the advice of her daughter ventured into an urban park to capture an owllike Pidgey and some purple rodent Rattatas. “Different landmarks, the statues and historical places.”
How such markers became the backbone of the wildly popular video game that launched this month is a story that goes back at least five years, when tech giant Google signed a licensing agreement to use The Historical Marker Database, a volunteer-run website that has tracked the geographic coordinates of more than 80,000 historical markers around the world, most of them in the United States.
J.J. Prats, founder and publisher of the Virginia-based marker database, said many but not all the Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms — where players send their creatures into battle — are from his website. He’s thrilled.
“Hopefully people will take their eyes off the phone and read the historical markers,” Prats said.
Game maker Niantic Labs, which began as an internal Google startup, originally used the markers for its earlier game, Ingress, which attracted a smaller but dedicated community when it launched in 2012. Niantic did not respond to emails seeking comment about its Pokémon Go locations.
But the Ingress website gives clues about how the Pokéstops were created. Before closing off submissions, Ingress invited its users to identify new locations for “portals,” real-life places of cultural significance that gamers try to capture and connect on the Ingress app.
The company sought spots “with a cool story, a place in history or educational value” or a “cool piece of art or unique architecture.” It prized libraries and little-known gems, and welcomed places of worship because they are “a nod to the otherworldly” that amplified the game’s mysterious tone.
Now, those markers are Pokéstops attracting a whole new community.