That kind of address tells you and everyone where you live in space. History is your address in time. For instance, I know a lot of people who hate the idea of cutting a forest, especially clearcutting. These same people love pastures and admire farmlands. Every field and pasture in Chatham is simply a clearcut tidied up and managed.
History is very practical and important.
I think it was the philosopher Santayana who said people who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. Chatham has been settled by several waves of newcomers, probably starting over 10,000 years ago. Each changed the region. The first Indians wiped out a lot of the big wildlife. Later Indians wiped out earlier Indians and began to make ceramics and create large villages and cleared land for crops.