Month: December 2014

Taking Stock of 2014 at the PaSHPO

December 31, 2014 / Cory Kegerise / 0 Comments

There’s something about turning the final page of the calendar each year that makes us all a little introspective. What were the high points of the past 12 months? The low points? The successes? The challenges? What might we do differently in the coming year? What should stay the same?

This past year has been a pretty exciting one for the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office, so we thought we’d take one last glance through the 2014 calendar before hanging up the new one – just for old times’ sake. Continue reading

Emma during a recent visit to Building 543, the former Pipe and Copppersmith Shop, of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

New Faces and Places in Environmental Review

December 24, 2014 / Barbara Frederick / 1 Comment

Emma outside the East Shore YMCA (1932) on North Front Street in Harrisburg.

As we are poised to ring in a new year, we wanted to make you aware of new developments in the review of state and federal projects that have occurred within our office over the past several months. In August, we said a fond farewell to Ann Safley who retired after 23 years of service. Ann most recently served as the above ground reviewer for projects in the western region of the state. Ann’s knowledge and expertise of state and federal projects and western Pennsylvania will be missed!

In October, we brought on our newest staff member, Emma Diehl, to serve as an above ground reviewer. Barbara Frederick subsequently shifted review responsibilities to the west, and Emma assumed review of projects affecting above ground resources in the eastern region. This map reflects the current regional environmental review assignments.

We are excited to add Emma as the newest member of our staff! To get to know her better, we asked Emma to share a bit about her past experience and personal interests as well as her perspective on her new job. Continue reading

We still want your bound reports, and now we'd like them in .pdf, too.

Digital Underground: Seeking Electronic Versions of Archaeological Reports

December 19, 2014 / Kira Heinrich / 0 Comments

As many of you will have noticed in your recent correspondence with our office, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), we have made a change in number and media requested for archaeological report copies. We are now requesting just one hard copy for the permanent archive file here at the SHPO office in Harrisburg, as well as three electronic copies on disks. This recent change is an attempt to plan for a future time when archaeological reports will be available on the Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS) to qualified users, in their entirety. Continue reading

Preservation at 50: Planning for the Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act

December 17, 2014 / Cory Kegerise / 2 Comments

I am dismayed to learn from reading this report that almost half of the twelve thousand structures listed in the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service have already been destroyed. This a serious loss and it underlines the necessity for prompt action if we are not to shirk our duty to the future.

– Lady Bird Johnson in With Heritage So Rich, 1966

In the waning months of 1964, a small group of preservation advocates, beleaguered by nearly two decades of Federal transportation and urban renewal programs that decimated historic communities across the country, gathered to strategize about a new national framework for historic preservation. They wondered whether the “progress” ushered in by the post war economic boom could be redefined in ways that would respect, and even enhance, historic places? Those efforts would eventually lead, in October 1966, to the adoption of the National Historic Preservation Act, the most comprehensive and fully articulated law protecting historic places in the United States.

The country is preparing to mark the 50^th anniversary of the NHPA in 2016, and there are many preservation accomplishments to celebrate, but also much left to be done. Preservation50, a coalition of national preservation organizations and agencies is organizing the celebration of the NHPA anniversary and they need your input and involvement. Continue reading

Large two-story brick home surrounded by green lawn. — Wheatland, home of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. (1961RE00031)

The Keystone Fund Partners in Preserving James Buchanan’s Wheatland

December 10, 2014 / Karen Arnold / 0 Comments

Wheatland, the home of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States, BHP Key No. 001061

I realize that when it is cold outside, it might be more comfortable to hibernate on the couch watching television, but this is a great time of year to visit the Commonwealth’s museums and historical sites. Always in need a last-minute hostess gift for a party, I often pop into the Landis Valley Museum Shop for a unique gift or just take respite in exploring the material cultural of our great Commonwealth. One of my favorite historic houses to visit this time year is President James Buchanan’s Wheatland in Lancaster. Constructed in 1828 for William Jenkins, the president of Farmer’s Bank of Lancaster, the Federal-style brick house and surrounding 24 acres were purchased by retiring U.S. Secretary of State, James Buchanan, in 1848. Wheatland remained Buchanan’s home during his presidency until his death on June 1, 1868. The Mansion was sold in 1935 to the James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland to develop a Presidential House Museum. Continue reading

Eliza Kirkbride School, Philadelphia — The Kirkbride school in the 1500 block of S. 7th Street at the south edge of Center City was listed in the National Register in 1988 as a good example of a Late Gothic Revival school by the school district’s architect, Irwin T. Catharine. This school is one of 114 listed in the National Register through the first historic context prepared for Philadelphia public schools in the 1980s.

School Daze

December 3, 2014 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 2 Comments

No, this isn’t a review of Spike Lee’s 1988 movie. I’m referring to my state of mind when I think about all of the work I’ve done with public schools in Philadelphia over the past few months.

As you may remember from this post, I joined BHP in July and my first assignment was to complete the survey component of a larger project to document Philadelphia elementary and secondary public schools of all types, styles, and dates. I had a good start on the survey work thanks to the headway my predecessor made in 2013 by assembling lists and survey maps, which are organized by zip code. My school daze started when I realized that there were about 300 public schools that qualified for this reconnaissance-level survey. And, even more intimidating, that 205 still needed to be surveyed before school started on September 8^th! Continue reading