SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - A different kind of treasure hunt is underway in Somerville as a local man aims to help others find unique items and pieces of history in the city through a virtual treasure map.
The project started when Eric Haines went for walks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haines said he saw many cool things and wanted to share the experience with others. Now, he has created the Somerville Sights map with the locations marked.
“It amazes me how much I’ll walk by that I just don’t notice at all,” Haines told 7NEWS.
“There’s a sort of great mix in Somerville of arts council and others who are sort of actively trying to make the city a more interesting place to live,” he continued.
Haines spent years taking what he called “interesting pictures” of things in the city. Then, he decided to share his work with others.
“My basic goal is to try to inspire people to go out and walk around and look around,” he said.
Haines said the project brings the community together and works on people’s natural desire to share fun things that they see.
One of his favorite parts of the project, he said, involves people submitting unique things they come across to be added to the map.
“It’s just a really nice community kind of thing of people going ‘Oh I found a cool one, put it on the map,’” Haines said.
The map covers everything from fun art to oddities people leave out in their yards.
Each mapped location has a dot where users can click to find more information or links to other sites.
With the map always being updated, it can make every hunt a first-time adventure.
“It’s just sort of a fun thing to try to get people to notice what’s around them,” Haines said. “I try to make it a bit like a treasure hunt.”
The Somerville Sights map works through Google Maps. It currently has more than 70,000 views.
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