Terms of Service
Last updated July 30, 2026
The short version: this is a free map of American history and culture. Use it kindly, don't abuse the servers, check the ground truth before you drive four hours, and respect the places the pins point at, some of them are solemn and some of them are somebody's street.
The agreement
These terms are an agreement between you and the operator of Raw States ("the site"). By using the site, and especially by creating an account, you accept them. If you do not accept them, don't use the site. No hard feelings.
The service
The site is an interactive map of historical events, cultural sites, and upcoming events across the United States, with optional free accounts for saving places. It is provided free of charge, as-is, and it may change, gain features, lose features, or go offline for maintenance without notice.
Accuracy, and what a pin is
Every entry is researched and placed with care, and precision is the whole point of the site. But history is contested, sources disagree, and coordinates are occasionally wrong despite best efforts. The map is a starting point, not an authority. Verify anything that matters before you rely on it: especially before travelling, and especially opening hours, access, and whether a site still exists.
A pin is not permission. Some pins mark places on or beside private property, working land, or active infrastructure. A pin means "this happened here", never "you may go here". Obey postings, fences, and the people who live and work there. Some pins mark places where people died; treat them the way you'd want your own history treated.
Accounts
- An account is an email address and a password. The email is used as the account name and nothing is ever sent to it. See the privacy policy for exactly what is stored.
- You are responsible for the password and for what happens under your account. Pick a real password.
- One person per account. Don't share credentials.
- You can export everything or delete the account at any time from the account menu; deletion is immediate and final.
- You must be at least 13 to make an account.
Acceptable use
Don't do these things:
- Break, probe, or overload the site or its API: no automated scraping of the API, credential testing, or rate-limit evasion.
- Use the site to plan or coordinate harassment, trespass, vandalism, or theft, including at any site the map documents.
- Misrepresent the site's content as your own, or republish it wholesale.
- Create accounts by machine.
Accounts used this way may be removed without warning. That is the only reason an account is ever removed.
Saved places and public counts
Saving a place adds it to your private list and increments a public counter on that place's card. The counter is anonymous: a number, nothing more. Your list is visible only to you.
Promoted placements
If an event or place has paid for placement, it is visibly labelled as promoted where it appears. Promotion never changes a pin's location or the facts stated about it.
Intellectual property
The site's text is original writing and belongs to the site. Map rendering uses OpenFreeMap and OpenStreetMap data under their own licences; links to Wikipedia lead to content under Wikipedia's licences. You may quote and share the site's content with attribution (a link is attribution). You may not bulk-copy the database and present it as yours.
Third-party links
Pins link out: to Wikipedia, to event pages, to venues. Those sites are their own; the map is not responsible for what they say, sell, or do.
No warranty, limited liability
The site is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, availability, and fitness for a particular purpose. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the site's operator is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the site, or for anything that happens at a physical location the map describes. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid to use the site, which is zero.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change materially, the date at the top changes and the change is described here rather than quietly applied. Continuing to use the site after a change means accepting the changed terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the state in which the site's operator resides, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
Contact
Questions about these terms, a correction, or a concern about a specific pin: privacy@rawstates.com.