See all those tourists in the photo? Probably not, because they are invisible. That is why I call them “stealth tourists.” On that table in the center of the photo is a registry book. Users of the Otis A. Thompson Local History room, in the basement of the Guernsey Memorial Library in downtown Norwich, sign in here. Some of them come from outside the county and some from outside the state.

They are invisible in that no one pays any attention to them. They arrive, carry out their missions, and depart. They do not come in large numbers or on special occasions; they just trickle in throughout the year. Some of them stay in motels, eat at local restaurants, gas up, snack up, drink up, and buy stuff. They do the same things other tourists do.

Stealth tourists come here for various purposes, but the ones I encounter are researching their family histories. Genealogy is their interest. They visit several of our local libraries. Some make regular pilgrimages here, because they enjoy their visits. Some grew up here and like to come back again and again to see their old buddies and check out their former haunts. Others are not motivated by nostalgia but rather by curiosity. They want to see where their ancestors lived.