By Matt Maris, Local Historia

Bellefonte is not only a town brimming with history, itas a community full of people who enjoy learning, sharing, and working to preserve it. Bellefonte.com has made it easier to learn about Bellefonte history with three self-guided tours at your fingertips in the Learn section on the website.

At Local Historia, walking tours are one of our favorite ways to experience and share local history. In fact, our core belief is that learning local history is one of the best ways to connect with a community. Understanding a townas past can help you better connect with it in the present, and foster a passion for preserving it for the future.

Now, you can find these tours on Bellefonte.com: Historic Bellefonte Victorian Homes Tour, the Bellefonte Ironmasters Walking Tour, and the Bellefonte Ironmasters Driving Tour. These tours are a collaboration between Historic Bellefonte Inc., Bellefonte.com, and Local Historia, to curate and share the townas rich history. Each tour stop includes a photo, a brief history, address and location along with mapping so you can tackle the tours at your leisure, in order of each stopas proximity to one another, or in any order you prefer. There are more tours in the works, too.

You can tackle these however you want, with friends and family after a local bite to eat, in solo walks so you can go truly at your own pace, or broaden your territory by taking a driving tour to the sites beyond the Borough. Thereas plenty to get you started and keep you coming back for more.

History is one of those things where there is always something to learn, even if Bellefonte is your hometown, keep exploring it. Look up and down at these buildings and sites, walk the alleys and lanes to find those carriage houses, and climb to new views for better perspectives. You will be amazed at what you find when you truly look. Put on your favorite historical thinking cap, slow down, read the historical tablets, plaques, markers, memorials, names, and dates; take it all in, ask questions along the way, and allow the past to come back to life.

So hereas your next homework assignment, try at least one of these self-guided tours and let us know what you think. Over the years, many essential facts and content have risen to the surface, so be sure to message us your input or suggestions where needed so the Learn section can continue to expand and dig deeper into Bellefonteas heritage, history, and culture.