Two separate counties in Maryland have produced a passport to historic
sites booklet.  In 1997 (I think) Prince George's Co. produced one to
help celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the county.  Luckily
for the historic sites, the county had a budget for such a celebration
and so the booklets were paid for by the county.  These booklets were
printed in four colors and each site had a page with a basic
description, hours of operation, a place for a stamp to show that a
visitor had been there, and often a small discount offered to booklet
holders.  The county made these available through the historic sites and
through the public school system, and then gave everyone one year to
visit the sites.  Because it was a celebration, the program also had
prizes attached to it.  People who visited all the sites (I think there
were 16) got a small prize.  As I understand it, deciding on what the
prizes were going to be was one of the hardest parts.

Anyway, this program turned out to be so sucessful for Prince George's
County (many sites saw their visitation quadruple - particularly the
smaller sites where often the general public doesn't even know they
exist) that Anne Arundel County -- where I live-- decided to adopt the
idea for its own celebration.  AA Co. is celebrating the 350th
anniversary of European settlement in this area, and so have produced a
similar Passport booklet - although in fewer colors - for several sites
in the County.  We too have stamps, and discounts.  I can't tell you how
well it is working yet, as our year is not over and the numbers haven't
been calculated, but I can tell you that we have stamped a lot of
Passports.

If you want more information I'm sure that Anne Arundel County's
Celebration 350 committee has a website somewhere - likely attached to
the County's.  Those on the committee could provide you with lots of
details.

-Alecia Parker
Historic Annapolis Foundation

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).