Eagle Scout Project
Building a digital walking tour for historic Mount Tabor.
This project created a digitally enhanced, self-guided walking tour of the Mount Tabor Historic District in Parsippany, New Jersey. Twenty physical signs placed throughout the village connect visitors to archival research, historical images, and an interactive map through QR codes.
Scope
20
QR-linked signs installed across the historic district.
Format
Hybrid
Physical signage connected to web pages, historical images, and map navigation.
Reach
23,000+
Views on the tour experience and project materials.
Project Description
Making local history easier to access
The tour consists of 20 signs placed around Mount Tabor. Each sign describes a corresponding area of the village and includes a QR code linking to the Mount Tabor Historical Society's website. That structure keeps the physical signs compact while allowing each stop to open into a much richer digital experience with historical photos and longer narratives.
The core idea was to let visitors stand in front of a place and compare the present-day site with archival material from the same location. Because the content lives online, the tour can keep evolving over time and can eventually expand to include new media such as audio and video.
Process
Research, build, install
The Mount Tabor Historical Society provided archival material, books, pamphlets, and editorial review for the web content.
A group of scouts and peers helped develop the set of 20 web pages that support the tour.
Sign production included custom fabrication, bracket design, QR integration, and field installation across the village.
Interactive Map
Tour the district virtually
The map below mirrors the one used for the project and links the physical sign system to the digital walking tour experience.
Project Media
Fabrication, installation, and launch
These photos and video document the build process from fabrication through public rollout.
Process footage from the project buildout and sign work.
Working with the aluminum composite material used for the sign system.
Preparing and checking the printed sign faces during production.
A finished sign in the field, showing the final QR-linked visitor experience.
Ribbon-cutting at the public launch of the completed Mount Tabor walking tour.
Webpage Development
The digital side of the project was built in WordPress using archival material from the Mount Tabor Historical Society. Books, pamphlets, server resources, and editorial review were used to create 20 location-specific pages with accurate historical content.
Sign Fabrication
The signs were fabricated from aluminum composite material with UV printing for the graphics and QR codes. I worked through production issues, learned the fabrication workflow, and designed a bracket in AutoCAD so the signs would sit at a scan-friendly angle.
Sign Installation
Installation used 5-foot enamel-coated steel fence posts driven into rocky glacial till, with brackets bolted and tightened for durability. Some signs were attached to existing wooden fences to reduce unnecessary disruption to the environment.
Recognition
Press coverage and public response
Progress on the project was documented as part of the Eagle workbook and application, then expanded into a press release that led to multiple news stories covering the project and the tour itself.
Acknowledgements