The stories buried beneath every street

PastExplorer surfaces forgotten history around your exact location. A WWII camp 200 meters away. A shipwreck discovered offshore in 1912. A pioneer cemetery hidden behind the strip mall. All pulled from real records, summarized by AI.

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200m away

WWII Coastal Defense Battery

Gun emplacement built in 1942 to defend against Japanese naval attacks. Decommissioned 1945, foundations still visible under park grass.

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400m away

SS Valencia Shipwreck Memorial

Passenger steamer wrecked in 1906 with 136 lives lost. Lifeboats were spotted floating empty for months after. One of the Pacific Northwest's worst maritime disasters.

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1.2km away

Old Pioneer Cemetery (1887)

Originally at the edge of town, now surrounded by development. 340 marked graves from gold rush settlers, many headstones weathered beyond reading.


Open the app. Look around. History is everywhere.

01

Share your location

PastExplorer uses your GPS to scan for historical sites, events, and forgotten places within walking distance.

02

Read the stories

Every site gets a short, AI-generated summary pulled from heritage registries, museum records, historic maps, and Wikipedia.

03

Go explore

Follow exploration trails, see historical photos, upload your own discoveries. Turn every walk into a time-travel adventure.


Not a tour guide. A time machine in your pocket.

AI

AI-powered summaries

Raw archival data turned into readable, fascinating stories. No Wikipedia copy-paste. Every summary is crafted from multiple sources.

GP

Proximity-first discovery

Not a search engine. PastExplorer shows you what's around you right now, sorted by distance. Walk and discover.

GL

Global from day one

Most history apps cover the U.S. only. PastExplorer pulls from international heritage databases, archaeological records, and open data worldwide.

CM

Community-driven

Upload photos, add missing sites, create exploration trails. Local historians and urban explorers build the map together.


Real records. Real history.

Historic Maps
Archaeological Databases
Museum Records
Wikipedia
Heritage Registries
Government Archives
Community Uploads

History doesn't disappear. It just waits to be found.

PastExplorer turns every neighborhood into an open-air museum. The stories are already there. We just surface them.

Open the Map →