Historical Society of Berks County -

Four Centuries 2009 Property Tour GPS information.

In this day and age quite a few people have GPS navigation systems that they use to find their way around unfamiliar places. For the 2009 Four Centuries Property Tour, the HSBC has created Points of Interest(POI) files and Waypoint Files that can be loaded into the two most popular makes of car GPS units.

The instructions for loading the files into a GPS unit vary from brand to brand and model to model. While we provide general instructions below, your best bet is to consult the user manual for your particular model for details on how to load the data into your GPS device.

Once you have the data loaded into your GPS (you will find the download links below), you will find the tour property sites in the POI menu (on Magellan) or in My Favorites (on a Garmin). Also, depending on your unit, the tour properties may appear on your map with a house as an icon.

The Points of Interest (or Waypoints) are named.

4 Cent Dreibelbis Br - this waypoint (POI) will lead you to the Dreibelbis Covered Bridge, the start of the tour.
4 Cent Property 1
4 Cent Property 2
4 Cent Property 3+4
4 Cent Property 5
4 Cent Property 6
4 Cent Property 7
4 Cent Property 8

Once you have the waypoints (POI) loaded into your GPS, your unit will be able to lead you from property to property. Just select the property and tell your unit to navigate to it. This must be done for each property. Example; when leaving 4 Cent Property 1, you must select 4 Cent Property 2 (or whichever the next property is you wish to visit) and instruct the GPS unit to navigate to that property. We have tested these programs many times to ensure that they are correct. In one or two instances they did deviate from the 4 Centuries Tour Book directions, but in all cases, they were successful in leading us to the designated property. Have Fun!

Magellan

Newer Magellan RoadMate models come with software that lets you import POI (Points of interest) files into your Magellan.

Presented here are step by step instructions for loading a Points of Interest file into a Roadmate 1022T. Your Magellan's screens may be slightly different.

Click here to download the Magellan POI file for the 2009 Four Centuries Tour, save the file to your desktop.

Click here for step by step instructions on how to use this file

Garmin

Click here to download the GPX file for use with Garmin GPS units, and others. Save the file to a location where you can find it later.

Click here for step by step instructions on how to use this file

Do you have Google Earth installed on your computer.? If so, click here to download a file into Google Earth that shows the location of the tour properties.