Our Best of America Pinterest board began amidst the planning of our July/August We Hear You, America! package. As we sifted through thousands of heartfelt stories about what our readers love most about their hometowns, the board became a way for us to share the stories we wouldn’t have room for in the magazine.

Submissions ranged from the quirky—with six carousels Binghamton, New York is proud to call itself the Carousel Capital of the World—to the inspiring —the undaunted residents of flood-devastated Minot, North Dakota, banded together to raise money to rebuild their local zoo. And they all seemed too good to simply put aside.

While tracking these Reader’s Digest pins onto the boards of our readers, I picked up on  an interesting pinning trend I hadn’t noticed previously: hometown boards. Among the countless alluring pictures of food, fashion, and fluffy pets, pinners were finding our images and using them to craft portraits of their hometowns. Although I haven’t been to all of the places pin-fully presented under board names like “My Hometown!” and “Where I Come From,” I enjoyed sifting through the items users thoughtfully selected to visually showcase what makes their hometown so special to them.

Here are a few of our favorite hometown boards. Happy pinning!

- My Old Hometown!! by Carole D. (Binghamton, New York)

- My Hometown by Jane Tyler J. (Holland, Michigan)

- Where I Come From by Alison J. (Fort Payne, Alabama)

- My hometown :) by Erin E. (Corning, New York)

- My neck of the woods by Brenda S. (Lake Placid, Florida)