In Augusta, the original chimney of the Confederate Power Works still stands. (photo courtesy Sir Mildred Pierce)

This might just be the coolest app yet! My GPB Radio colleague Noel Brown reported on it Monday.

Here's Noel's story:

Starting this summer, visitors to the Augusta Canal can use their smart phones to take a virtual tour of the city’s Confederate Powder Works.

The once-expansive factory produced most of the south’s gun powder during the Civil War. Today, a 150-foot chimney is all that remains.

But thanks to a free app called Layar, history buffs wandering the site can look through their phone’s camera viewfinder and see 3 dimensional representations of buildings that were demolished more than a century ago.

Rebecca Rogers with the Augusta Canal Authority says the application offers users an interactive view into Augusta history.

"There’ll be action buttons at the bottom of the phone that will say ‘tell me more’ or ‘play a video’ or ‘take me there and show a map’. So it’s not just a case of being able to see these 3-D buildings. Essentially it will take our museum experience and put it out in the field inside your smart phone."

Rogers says the original architect's drawings served as the basis for the virtual buildings.

The app will be available by August on Android smart phones as well as the iPhone.

A state economic development grant helped finance the project.