Scavenger Hunt

In August 2021, Waco History held its first scavenger hunt. Starting from the Downtown Farmers’ Market, forty-one teams scoured downtown Waco solving clues and completing challenges that came with the inaugural Waco History Hunt. This edition on Waco’s founding took the 131 participants to the Waco History sites of Waco Indian Village, Fort Fisher, Waco Village, Jacob de Cordova, Chisholm Trail, Waco Examiner, New Hope Baptist Church, and the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Mill.

Along the way, hunters deconstructed history, made land deals, herded “cattle,” hawked newspapers, and sang hymns! Three teams won bountiful baskets full of prizes donated by local businesses.

Below you'll find some of the resources we considered as we designed the scavenger hunt. 

Technology

Canva 

Eventbrite

GooseChase

Scavify

Bibliography

SCHOOL SCAVENGER HUNTS  

“Scavenger Hunt History Detectives.” Public Broadcasting Service. 

“History “Scavenger Hunt.” Princeton Battlefield Society.

“History Scavenger Hunt | City of Brentwood.” City of Brentwood. 

McLain, Terrill Reid. “Social Media Treasure Hunt –Practical Lessons Using Twitter in the English Classroom.” The Journal of Teaching English with Technology no. 2 (2019): 88-100. 

Texas A&M Today. “Texas A&M Scavenger Hunt Demonstrates Viability Of Social Media Marketing.”

Cannon Beach History Center & Museum. “Photo Scavenger Hunt.”

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. “Find Harpers Ferry Photo & History Scavenger Hunt (U.S. National Park Service).”               

VIRTUAL HUNTS 

“Escape to the History Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt for Kids.” Watson Adeventures LLC.    

“On-Line Scavenger Hunt.” The Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board.  

“Hunt For History.” Augusta Museum of History.  

“Virtual Museum Scavenger Hunt.” New-York Historical Society.               

CITY TOURS  

“Alexandria Historical Scavenger Hunt.” City of Alexandria.                       

“Historic Denver Scavenger Hunt.” American Historical Association.

Smith, Tara. “Join the Hunt for Local History as Southold Historical Society Hosts Scavenger Hunt.” The Suffolk Times, April 11, 2021. 

“Local History Scavenger Hunt Week 1.” Huntington Memorial Library. October 5, 2014.            

MISC.

Noe-Payne, Mallory. “Museums Partner on History Oriented Scavenger Hunt.” Radio IQ | WVTF. May 24, 2020. Accessed February 1, 2022. 

Georgetown, James Scogin. “Scott County Historical Society Hosts ‘March into History’ Scavenger Hunt.” News-Graphic.com. February 19, 2021.

“Library to Hold next History Scavenger Hunt.” The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. April 15, 2021.  

“Spring 2021 History Scavenger Hunt.” Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library.  

BOOKS

Bakshi, Anita. Topographies of Memories: A New Poetics of Commemoration. Germany: Springer International Publishing, 2017.

Johnston, Lucas and Dave Aftandilian, eds. Grounding Education in Environmental Humanities: Exploring Place-Based Pedagogies in the South. New York: Routledge, 2020.

Till, Karen E. The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, and Place. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.

PAPERS 

Tebeau, Mark. "Strategies for Mobile Interpretive projects for Humanists and Cultural Organizations." Center for Public History + Digital Humanities. Cleveland State University, 
March 3, 2013.