Brownsville launches Heritage Tour website

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — The city of Brownsville launches its new heritage tour website Monday evening.  It highlights the more than 450 architectural historic sites around the city.

“It just takes our cultural arts, music and places and puts it together so you can come to Brownsville and spend the day and learn of our historical heritage,” Main Street Brownsville Director Mary Ann Sharpe said.

The website, visitbrownsvilletn.org, will explain the historic importance of the landmarks. After five months of working with local historians, Encore Interpretive Design developed what it calls a responsive website.

“Gives people the ability to use their mobile device,” said Encore Interpretive Designer David Currey. “It kind of down scales the information about each one of the historic districts that exist here in Brownsville.”

Guests will follow the tour to hot spots that show Brownsville’s contributions to music and agriculture.

“This is a brainchild of mainstream,” Brownsville Mayor William Rawls Jr. said. “We are a Main Street community. What we are doing, we’re trying to highlight classic and traditional heritage while buying it into a format where all our visitors can use it.”

The website is just a piece of this project.

“The secondary piece is a driving tour brochure where all of that information is on a handout brochure,” Currey said. “It’s got a map with all the destination sites on it, and they can physically visit each one.”

“We’re very proud of our small-town heritage here in Brownsville, Tenn.,” Mayor Rawls said. “We want to market it not only to Tennessee but the entire world, and this is the tools to do that.”

After Monday evening’s launch party, representatives from Encore Interpretive Design took visitors on the Brownsville Heritage Tour for the first time.