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A critical outcome in social studies education is identity development, and an important component of this process is students establishing a sense of place in their communities, nation, and world. Using data from a southwestern city in the United States, researchers investigated the intersection of local history, identity development, and cultural heritage resources using GIS technology. The instructional unit in which students participated utilized a variety of geospatial technologies which facilitated the visualization of geographic concepts, field-based data collection of geocoded places, and creation of a digitally-mediated cultural heritage map, which allowed students to create a narrative around their cultural identity. The study followed an interpretive case study design. Based on the findings from this study, important implications emerged, which are valuable for both future research in this area, as well as for teachers who wish to replicate this pedagogical approach in their own teaching practice. The implications include the flexibility of geospatial technologies for addressing content-area concepts at all levels of the instructional unit, the potential of geospatial technologies for supporting student cultural identity development, and the value of school-university partnerships in promoting innovative teaching strategies in a high school classroom.