Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Month: November 2015

Saltsburg Or Bust!

This past June Barbara Frederick and I were in Saltsburg, Indiana County attending a stakeholder meeting for the Loyahanna and Conemaugh Dam’s master planning process. The Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District has been hard at work this summer updating their planning documents, and, as the Western Region Section 106 review team, Barbara and I have been doing our part to provide our support to their process. We also used the opportunity to get a first-hand look at the Dams, Saltsburg, and some really great historic resources!  Continue reading

#FindYourPark: Steamtown National Historic Site

The National Park Service will marks its 100th anniversary in 2016, and in honor of this centennial celebration, PHMC will highlight the National Parks in Pennsylvania throughout the coming year, as seen through the eyes of our staff.

Recently, a couple of us from the office went on a trip to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton.  The site is owned by the National Park Service and is the site a rail yard and engine roundhouse of the former Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad.  We went to discuss consultation between our office and NPS on maintenance and infrastructure improvements at the site.  Once we were done with our official discussions, we got a tour of the facilities. Continue reading

Philadelphia’s Magical Mosaic Streetscape and the South Street Renaissance

When I discovered the fabulously whimsical and colorful mosaic murals along the 1000 block of South Street in Philadelphia, I had no idea this outpouring of creativity was actually part of a fascinating preservation story.  Visually, the neighborhood is delightful surprise, a colorful, mysterious and enigmatic world of unexpected images, embedded in the physical structure of the buildings.  While the artwork is fun and engaging, it is also much more.  It is physical evidence of the power of people to reclaim and reinvent their communities and redirect the forces of change that threaten them. Continue reading

Announcing the PA SHPO Shout-Out!

How often is it that we, as preservationists and champions of history, get to hear some good news about historic preservation? When I check my Facebook feed every morning, I usually see one post after another calling attention to the plight of our cherished historic places and spaces.  Finally, one morning, I said, “Enough! There has to be some good in the world!” And the SHPO Shout-Out was born…

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