DNA Tourism at the Clear Lake Historical Society
BY: RACHEL WUMKES
It’s a complex question, often answered with a simple answer: the name of the town in which you live. But have you actually pondered the depth of its meaning? Thought about your family tree and how the branches have grown? Twisting through the sands of time, etching the story of your lineage.
Tracing the branches of a family tree used to take years of painstaking research.
The original records were often of the church as they kept detailed logs of births, baptisms, confirmations, and marriages. As time moved on and our World evolved into the technological hub of knowledge it is today, so did the recordkeeping and options for research. But also – the availability of travel.
Hundreds of years ago, it was common for families to remain close. Physically, that is. The option to move across the state, or the country, wasn’t feasible. There was no need to travel far and wide to unearth where one came from, as their history was centralized in one location. But soon, people became able to move away. Technology gave us options, developing our mobility for easy access to other parts of the World. Thus, the dissolution of many family trees. Cousins, aunts, uncles… they seemed to spread across the land far and wide.
The desire to find and connect with our roots is not a new concept; however, thanks to the availability of DNA testing, it’s easier than ever before to find long lost relatives and the deep history of our families. With the addition of resources like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, the answers are at your fingertips. A coliseum of knowledge to assist you in your quest to find your family history.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Simply identifying the branches on your family tree is no longer sufficient. People don’t just want to know where they came from… they want to see it. They want to stand at the grave of their ancestors. See where their family lived and worked.
And so, armed with information, they flock to their family’s homeland. To learn their history and uncover their pasts so they can see which way the branches of their family tree have grown. This wildly popular trend of DNA Tourism, which became a ‘Top Travel Trend’ back in 2019, is only expected to gain more traction and grow in the years to come.
We are lucky, in Clear Lake, to have a slew of helpful resources right in our backyard. The Clear Lake Historical Society was founded in 1985 and serves as the primary private repository of historical documents, photographs, and artifacts related to Clear Lake’s rich history. Information is at their fingertips as they’ve garnered a plethora of history books, year books, and plat books over the years.
The Historical Society recently completed a massive restoration and construction project within their new building (located on the corner of 8th St & 1st Ave S). The facility, which celebrated their grand opening in August 2022, includes a Research Room for hands-on help finding ancestral information. With the heightened popularity of this travel trend, the Historical Society is a tremendous an asset to those who travel to Clear Lake searching for answers. Hungry to find a deeper meaning of who they are and where they’re from.
To connect with the Historical Society or to check out their hours, go to their website: www.clearlakehistoricalsociety.com or find them on Facebook.