As stated in President Obama’s Proclamation on May 10, 2013:

As a Nation, we have no task more urgent than creating good jobs, strengthening our economy, and reigniting the thriving middle class that has always been the true engine of America’s growth. To meet these goals, we need to rebuild the infrastructure that powers our industries. We need to make our cities more connected and more resilient to the challenges we face. We need to restore our roads, bridges, and ports — transportation networks that are essential to making the United States the best place in the world to do business.

So, one may ask, how does this relate to historic preservation in Pennsylvania beyond Section 106 and Section 4f reviews for bridge replacement projects? I want to celebrate a few historic resources that have a direct relationship to National Defense Transportation Day and their contribution to strengthening our economy and creating good jobs.

The first example is the Philadelphia Navy Yard – the country’s first naval shipyard. The origins of the Navy Yard date to 1776, when the Continental Congress leased land along Philadelphia’s Front Street docks to support the new nation’s fledgling Navy. In 1995, the Navy officially closed the Yard and listed the historic core of the shipyard as a National Register Historic District.  In 2004, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation unveiled a master plan for the redevelopment of the Navy Yard including rehabilitation of buildings for supporting office, research and development, industrial, and residential use. Among the accomplishments over the past decade, is the creation of 10,000 jobs, the establishment of over 130 businesses and the investment of over $140,000,000 in the rehabilitation of 14 buildings under the federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program. The most compelling project is the establishment of Urban Outfitters campus by rehabilitating a series of manufacturing facilities, including the recent award winning rehabilitation of Building 14.  Future work includes the rehabilitation of Building 661 as the headquarters of the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster, a US Department of Energy approved Energy Innovation Hub for the development and deployment of energy-efficient building technology.

Before

After

The other example is the Monongahela River Navigation System – one of the nation’s most successful river systems – that was recognized with a PHMC historical marker on June 18, 2012 at Locks and Dam No. 3.   Originally constructed in 1838, the navigation system, which runs from Fairmount, WV to Pittsburgh and includes six other locks and dams, allowed for the transportation of millions of tons of coal and coke along the river that fueled the nation’s industrial revolution.  The marker was part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lower Mon Project’s cultural mitigation plan which began in the 1990s to upgrade the Braddock Locks and Dam downstream. Currently, it is in the process of improving Lock and Dam 4, Charleroi, upstream. The third phase of the project will eliminate the 105-year-old Elizabeth locks, located midway between the two other locks. Other preservation efforts include the preparation of a National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form for the entire system by Heberling Associates (for more information see). The Mon is still an important transportation system and the continued modernization of the system allows for improved traffic flow of raw materials and finished products that are vital to the national economy.

Our mission is not only to maintain our roads, bridges, waterways and ports but to celebrate the historic significance of the many varied components of our National Defense Transportation network. Happy National Defense Transportation Day!

The post Yes Pennsylvania, there is a National Defense Transportation Day! appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

Sycamore Allee Historic Photo

In 1922,  the Pennsylvania Department of Highways, in cooperation with the Department of Forests and Waters (predecessors of PennDOT and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, respectively), planted approximately 536 Oriental Plane Sycamores. The trees were located along Legislative Route 1 (today’s PA Route 147) north and south of Halifax Borough; none were planted within the borough limits.  There were approximately 383 trees planted south of the borough and approximately 163 planted to the north.  (These rough counts are based on a count of the trees that appeared on the 1938 aerial photographs available from http://www.pennnpilot.psu.edu.) 

Today, 314 trees remain: 240 south and 74 north of the borough. Despite the loss of trees, the allee is still clearly discernible. Even in areas where Sycamores are found on only one side of the road, it is clear that this is a designed man-made landscape. 

Sycamore Allee Nomination Photo

The history of the LR 1 Sycamore Allee can be traced to a 1907 law that allowed the State Highway Commissioner to “…cause trees to be planted along…State Highways.”  These trees were the property of the state and were purchased with road funds.  Later, in the early 1920s, the Department of Highways joined with the Department of Forests and Waters to plant trees along “important” roads.

These plantings may also have been initiated in response to the end of the First World War.  Conclusive documentation that the LR 1 Sycamore Allee was planted as a World War I memorial has yet to be discovered; however, just after the War, Charles Lathrop Pack of the American Forestry Association advocated for “Roads of Remembrance” along which would be planted allees in honor of World War I’s fallen soldiers.  The record shows Congress took notice of this movement, with Senator McCormick of Illinois offering an amendment to the Snell Bill (which encouraged better forestry practices on private land) that would provide Federal funding for “Roads of Remembrance.” (The bill was unsuccessful.)  Furthermore, returning soldiers who had spent time in France had seen many mature allees there.  In fact, a photograph taken by Colonel H.W. Shoemaker showing an allee near Deauville, France, is included in the Pennsylvania State Archives’ records of the Department of Forests and Waters.

What is clear, though, is that, whether as memorial or as an early highway beautification project, the LR 1 Sycamore Allee is a significant example of early 20^th century publicly-funded landscape architecture.   What is arguably more important, though, is that the LR 1 Sycamore Allee is still an important part of the Halifax community, as evidenced by the attendance at the dedication ceremony.  The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (which created the National Register of Historic Places) states:  “the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people.”  Everyone attending the Allee dedication in April gave witness to that sentiment.

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The A.B.A. was formed in the early 20^th century in response to the widespread job loss and dispersion of coal miners as mines began to fail.  It was a homecoming organization that welcomed former Ashland residents back to their hometown.  Men from all parts of Pennsylvania, as well as several other states, participated in these annual celebrations.  The A.B.A. was the archetype of a poignant Pennsylvania story:  how successive waves of industrialization and economic development create then destroy industries and communities, leaving large groups of people longing for the associations and comforts of family, friends and home.  The Mother’s Memorial stands as a symbol of this sentiment.

At an A.B.A. reunion in 1933, it was proposed to honor all Ashland mothers by erecting a monument or memorial.  Members felt that such a memorial would represent the very foundation of the organization, because their motto was, “Come on home” and home evoked thoughts of one’s mother.  A committee was formed in 1936 to investigate and plan the memorial.  Some A.B.A. members, as well as many residents of the town, advocated the establishment of a library instead, but the memorial was decided upon and eventually gained the full support of the organization and the town.

ABA Mother's Memorial (5)

ABA Mother's Memorial (4)

ABA Mother's Memorial (3)

ABA Mother's Memorial (2)

ABA Mother's Memorial (1)

Wordpress Slideshow

The idea of commissioning a sculpture based on the painting known as “Whistler’s Mother” was a unique one.  The A.B.A. responded enthusiastically and raised over $6000.00 for the project.  The seven foot high three-dimensional sculpture was designed by Emil Siebern and sculpted by Julius Loester.  Both artists were sculptors from New York who specialized in public art – funerary decoration, memorials, park statuary, etc.  Although they did not routinely work together, both participated in several projects overseen by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  The completed Ashland monument was made of bronze and placed atop an impressive stonework terrace built by the WPA in 1938.

An impressive sight, the monument has become quite a tourist attraction.  A dedication of the Pennsylvania Historical Marker for the Ashland Boys’ Association will be held at the base of the Mother’s Memorial on August 31,2013.

The post Spotlight Series: The Ashland Mother’s Memorial appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

Pennsylvania Agricultural History Project

Regions associated with Pennsylvania’s agricultural history

Studying landscape pattern is valuable to managing resources because resources do not respond to municipal, township, city, county, and state boundaries.  Increasingly, organizations and governments realize that managing a landscape, or region, is more efficient and successful than managing small-scaled sites.  In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee created “the first international legal instrument to recognize and protect cultural landscapes…” and defined cultural landscapes as having “…a diversity of manifestations of the interaction between humankind and its natural environment”.  Also in 1992, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards were revised to include all historic resources included in the National Register of Historic Places – buildings, structures, sites, objects, districts, and landscapes.  Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes were developed and Brief 36: Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes were published in 1994.

The National Park Service recognizes four types of cultural landscapes and each is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places:

1. Historic sites – a landscape significant for its association with a historic event, activity or person.  Examples include battlefields and presidential homes and properties.
2. Historic designed landscapes – a landscape that was consciously designed or laid out by a landscape architect, master gardener, architect, engineer, or horticulturist according to design principles, or an amateur gardener working in a recognized style or tradition.  The landscape may be associated with a significant person, trend, or event in landscape architecture; or illustrate an important development in the theory and practice of landscape architecture.  Aesthetic values play a significant role in designed landscapes.  Examples include parks, campuses, and estates.
3. Historic vernacular landscapes – a landscape that evolved through use by the people whose activities or occupancy shaped it.  Through social or cultural attitudes of an individual, a family, or a community, the landscape reflects the physical, biological, and cultural character of everyday lives.  Function plays a significant role in vernacular landscapes.  This can be a farm complex or a district of historic farmsteads along a river valley.  Examples include rural historic districts and agricultural landscapes.
4. Ethnographic landscapes – a landscape containing a variety of natural and cultural resources that associated people define as heritage resources.  Examples are contemporary settlements, sacred religious sites, and massive geological structures.  Small plant communities, animals, subsistence, and ceremonial grounds are often components.

Not only do cultural landscapes provide great support to the relatively small-scale work many of us do, they supply designers, residents, officials, and planners with clues in rediscovering lost knowledge about sustainable communities.  Traditional landscapes often reflect sustainable resource-use patterns by showing responses to characteristics and limits of the local natural environment (UNESCO).  This information contributes to modern challenges such as farm-to-table food systems, transportation-oriented development, efficient architecture and urban planning, retaining spirit of place, or place making.  Long-term traditional forms of land-use support biological diversity in many regions of the world (UNESCO).  Perhaps most importantly, cultural landscapes have the potential to acknowledge and validate a community’s right to manage its identity.  Here lays an abundance of opportunity for us.

Community History Day at Juniata Terrace, Mifflin County

If carefully crafted, the message and process related to cultural landscape identification and management will contribute to achieving many goals of Pennsylvania’s Statewide Historic Preservation Plan.  One component essential to achieving this is expansion of community interaction.  Through events such as workshops, resident stakeholders participate in identifying and creating cultural landscapes.  Such events provide opportunities for the historic management community to expand and strengthen partnerships, engage new audiences, administer the preservation program, and encourage local level preservation planning.  If we facilitate this, cultural landscape projects will create fiscal sustainability, long-term participation, easier local government cooperation, and a better public identity for all disciplines involved.

References

UNESCO, Cultural Landscape, History and Terminology )http://whc.unesco.org/en/culturallandscape, accessed April 25, 2013.

The post The Potential of Cultural Landscapes appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

Every summer Pennsylvania’s preservation and conservation communities convene for a weeklong conference to explore current trends in archaeology and historic preservation. This year, the Statewide Conference on Heritage will be held at the historic William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. The conference will begin on Tuesday, July 16^thwith a pre-conference workshop on the Federal and State Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit programs and conclude with Preservation Pennsylvania’s Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Friday, July 19^th.  The conference is co-sponsored by Preservation Pennsylvania, PennDOT, PHMC, DCNR, Heritage PA, and local partners and attracts over 350 attendees annually.

Girls in Ethnic Outfits dancing at Carrie Furnace. Photo courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh’s Paul Slantis Photograph Collection, ca. 1946-1956.

Pittsburgh’s industrial past, rich ethnic heritage, vibrant and well-preserved downtown, and stunning collection of historic bridges provide the perfect backdrop for a lively discussion about how to preserve historic and archaeological resources. The conference includes four days packed with concurrent educational workshops and sessions, including:

• Historic Preservation Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit: Making Money the Old Fashioned Way
• Open for Business: A Real-Estate Developer’s Perspective on Successful Revitalization Strategies
• River Heritage: Archaeology
• The Economic Impact of Recreation & Preservation Along Pennsylvania’s River Routes
• Cultural Resource Essentials – Basics & Forum
• Trails & Tourism
• Economics of Heritage Tourism
• All Aboard! Strategies to Preserve Pennsylvania’s Recreation Railroads
• Down But Not Out: Historic Brownsville Seeks to Recapture its Vibrancy
• The Good, the Bad and the Uncertain: The Marcellus Gas Play & Pennsylvania Communities
• Iron City, Steel State: Preserving a Cultural Legacy of Metal Truss Bridges in the Transportation System

The conference also provides an opportunity to explore successful preservation strategies in the Pittsburgh-area with mobile workshops, including:

• Transit & History Tour – a tour of the Monongahela Incline & Station Square
• Babushkas & Hard Hats – a tour of Carrie Furnace & the Bulgarian Macedonia National Educational and Cultural Center
• Pittsburgh Underground – a walking tour of Pittsburgh’s Archaeological Past
• Transportation Project Scoping for Cultural Resources – a mobile workshop to explore the West Ohio Street/Ridge Avenue Bridges project
• Mid-Century Modern – a walking tour of Pittsburgh’s recent past resources

Gateway Clipper – Photo courtesy of Visit Pittsburgh.

After a day full of sessions and tours, attendees have the opportunity to relax at private evening events, including:

• Gateway Clipper Three Rivers Cruise – a chartered river cruise open to all attendees
• YPA’s Annual Top Ten Announcement at Wigle Whiskey Distillery
• Conference Reception at the Heinz History Center – a private reception open to all attendees

 With twenty-three sessions and workshops, five tours, and three evening events, the Statewide Conference on Heritage provides attendees with an action packed week at an affordable price. General registration rates are set at $135 and include access to all sessions, select walking tours, and two evening events—the private cruise on the Gateway Clipper and the conference reception.  Please visit the conference website www.pennbyways.org for the preliminary program and full registration information. 

The Statewide Conference on Heritage will be headquartered at the historic William Penn Hotel in the heart of Pittsburgh. The renowned William Penn Hotel was designed by architects Benno Janssen and Franklin Abbott and built by Henry Clay Frick in 1916.  Since its opening, the historic landmark has hosted wealthy industrialists, celebrities, and every president from Theodore Roosevelt to President Barack Obama.  All conference attendees are offered a discounted guest room rate of $119 a night for the duration of the conference. Please make reservations by visiting the group page at: http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/PittsburghWilliamPenn/MeetingFacilities/PreservationPennsylvania7.aspx .   Please do not delay in making your reservation; there are a limited number of rooms available and the guest room rate expires on June 18^th.

The Statewide Conference on Heritage provides educational training, behind-the-scenes tours, and invaluable networking opportunities for an affordable price. Please visit the conference website, to learn more www.pennbyways.org.  Questions about the conference can be directed to: Jennifer Horn (jhorn@preservationpa.org or 717-234-2310) or Joe Baker (joebaker@pa.gov or 717-705-1482).

Jennifer Horn is the Program Director at Preservation Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth’s only statewide, private non-profit, membership organization dedicated to the protection of historically and architecturally significant properties. As Program Director, Jennifer manages Preservation Pennsylvania’s public outreach and educational initiatives including the Statewide Conference on Heritage, and the Project for Pennsylvania Transportation and Heritage (ProjectPATH). Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and anticipates her Master of Science degree in Community and Regional Planning from Temple University in 2014.

The post The Statewide Conference on Heritage: Twenty-three Sessions, Five Tours, Three Private Evening Events, and One Unforgettable Experience appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

SPA is the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. SPA was organized in 1929 to: “Promote the study of the prehistoric and historic archaeological resources of Pennsylvania and neighboring states; encourage scientific research and discourage exploration which is unscientific or irresponsible in intent or practice; promote the conservation of archaeological sites, artifacts, and information; encourage the establishment and maintenance of sources of archaeological information such as museums, societies, and educational programs; promote the dissemination of archaeological knowledge by means of publications and forums; foster the exchange of information between the professional and the avocational archaeologists.”

Sharing a find with a friend.

SPA includes avocational, professional, academic, and student archaeologists organized into local chapters around the state; and provides a unique forum where all of its members can come together and discuss the rich archaeological record of the Commonwealth and learn from each other.

PASS is the Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey. This is the record of all of the archaeological sites that have been reported to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission or the Carnegie Museum of Natural History over most of the past hundred years. It is maintained by the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office and consists of both paper and electronic records.  It includes sites found by museums, educational institutions, and surveys conducted by cultural resource management firms for development projects. But more sites in the file were contributed by avocational archaeologists than any other source. Many of these recorders were members of SPA, though that is not a requirement to record sites.  There are currently over 22,000 sites in the files.

Unfortunately, no systematic survey of the Commonwealth for archaeological sites has been undertaken.  While there have been a few regional surveys in the past, generally sites are added to the file only when someone voluntarily submits information. Generally, archaeological sites are investigated only when required by federal or state laws. This leaves much of the state unreported.
If you look at the map of site distributions, it is very clear where collector activity has been the greatest.  Although Washington and Susquehanna Counties are roughly the same size, as of January 1, 2013, Washington County has 1610 recorded sites and Susquehanna County has only 166. These numbers may reflect some true differences in prehistoric occupation, but most of the disparity is a result of recorder activity.

The SPA gives an annual award to the local chapter that records the most sites within the year. By subscribing to the Keystone Preservation Post, you can find out who won (and other interesting information, as well!). This year’s winner will be revealed in the May issue.

Many collectors ask why they should record their sites. Although there can be many answers to this question, I have two that I emphasize: shared knowledge and protection.

Archaeological sites are the in-ground record of past human behavior. Most of our understanding of that behavior comes from the comparison of sites and the artifacts they contain to each other and to the materials used by people today. The more information we have to compare, the more we can understand about how people lived in Pennsylvania for the past 16,000 years or so.

The other reason to record sites is that certain federal and state laws require the consideration of the impact of projects on the environment and cultural resources. Many of the implementation procedures for these laws rely on knowledge gained from reviews of known sites. Basically, the more we know about archaeological sites throughout the Commonwealth, the better we are able to evaluate their significance. The more we know, the better we are able to establish importance and protect the knowledge embedded in other sites as they are identified. If a site is not included in our database/files, it cannot be considered in project review.

One classic example of how hording knowledge can distort the record comes from my own introduction to archaeology. When I was growing up in Western Pennsylvania, many of my neighbors had artifact collections and we all knew of sites where you could walk the fields and find “arrow heads.” When I took my first class on North American archaeology in college, the book we used had a series of maps in the back that showed the development and spread of various technologies throughout the continent. Western Pennsylvania was shown on most of those maps as either “vacant” or “unknown.” Our past was not part of the story, not because we had no story, but because no one had shared that story. I am happy to say that much of that hole has been filled in during the last generation.

Here is one more set of initials that you should be familiar with: CRGIS – Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. The CRGIS is the online system where we share data we collect with the public. Information about the archaeological sites in our files is available to anyone who uses the site; locations are not! Neither are the names of collectors or owners (unless they are part of the site name). Site locations are considered confidential information, available only by special access. I recommend that you use the AskReGIS search section of the CRGIS to see what we already know about your area.

Please consider this article as your invitation to add your sites to the story of Pennsylvania’s past! PASS forms and guidelines for completing them are available on our website.  If you have any questions, we are here to answer your questions. Please contact us at RA-CRGIS@pa.gov .  To find a chapter of SPA to join and share your enthusiasm click here.

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Pennsylvania’s CLI regions

The 2012-2017 Statewide Historic Preservation Plan highlights the need to “broaden the definition of preservation to encompass open space, cultural and historic resources, working lands, environmental quality, viewshed aesthetics, and community character protection.” So the CLI Program provides the BHP with a golden opportunity to get involved with local communities and work with them to preserve their historic character within the context of the surrounding natural and agricultural landscapes. Here are a few projects in the CLI regions that the staff has been involved with in recent years:

Trail Towns Plan cover

Laurel Highlands  – In 2008 the PHMC used federal Preserve America funding to offer grants to designated communities for developing historic preservation plans. In the Laurel Highlands the PHMC awarded a grant to the Progress Fund for overseeing a planning process for six “Trail Towns” along the Great Allegheny Passage, a highly successful rail trail connecting Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh. This plan recommends consistent strategies to preserve the character of this historic corridor, an excellent illustration of how the goals of preservation, landscape conservation, outdoor recreation, and commercial revitalization can align to improve the quality of life in rural communities.

PA Wilds – Last month Bill Callahan wrote about the PA Wilds Design Assistance Initiative, another example of the impact that preservation and heritage development can have in the CLI regions. This program connected local property owners and communities with design professionals to preserve and enhance historic buildings, public spaces, and downtown streetscapes in the PA Wilds.

Pine Grove Furnace Exhibit logo

South Mountain – For several years, the BHP staff has worked closely with the South Mountain Partnership to help them identify opportunities for telling the region’s stories and preserving its historic places. The Partnership’s DCNR-funded Mini-Grant Program proved to be a key incentive for the CLI’s early successes. At Pine Grove Furnace State Park, the most visible Mini-Grant projects include adapting a historic mill building as the permanent location for the Appalachian Trail Museum’s exhibits and collections and renovating the 1829 Ironmaster’s Mansion for use by the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy as a hostel, education center, and meeting space. The Cumberland County Historical Society has received two Mini-Grants in recent years: One of them calls attention to a historic CCC and POW camp in Michaux State Forest with a PHMC Historical Marker and a self-guided walking tour map of the site. The other funded a major exhibition on the history of Pine Grove Furnace, including an outdoor event and portable displays at the Ironmaster’s Mansion.

Perhaps South Mountain’s most ambitious preservation goal is to develop a Cultural Heritage Landscape Plan for the region. Over a dozen different organizations and visitors bureaus helped draft the scope of work for the project, which aims to document South Mountain’s major themes, identify the places that reflect those themes, and develop an implementation plan to tell those stories and to outline strategies for preserving and promoting these important landscapes.

Many of the CLI partnerships work closely with one or more state heritage areas to help them interpret their region’s history and assist local historic sites and museums. This is especially true in the PA Wilds, which nearly matches the boundaries of the Lumber Heritage Region. Likewise, the Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area has been a key partner in organizing the Susquehanna Riverlands CLI. The National Road and Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridors both work closely with Laurel Highlands, and the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor serves as the local lead for Lehigh Valley Greenways.

To learn more about the BHP staff’s work with the CLIs, please contact the Community Preservation Coordinator who covers that region. 

The post Conservation Landscape Initiatives: A Growing Opportunity for Preservation Partnerships appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

Our main goal is to present an online toolkit that provides information and avenues of research. The website “The Researcher’s Guide

Banner for the Pennsylvania’s Historic Suburbs website

for Developing a Context for Evaluating Post World War II Suburbs for National Register Eligibility” needs to be applicable across the state.  This material provides specific questions that can be applied to these resources for documentation and evaluation purposes, identify property types and character-defining features general overviews of the trends, themes and events of the time period; and, relevant, publicly-accessible, online resources such as historic and modern aerial maps, census data, and tax records.

Pennsylvania Week, October 10-17 1954, a Pennsylvania Department of Commerce sponsored event. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives

While postwar suburbs reflect a more general, national pattern, we felt it was necessary for the researcher to understand them more clearly as part of regional and/or local pattern of development.Regional considerations must be taken into account due to the comprehensive range of geographic, socio-political, economic and demographic patterns of development that the postwar period exhibited in Pennsylvania.

1957 Chester Times real estate page

Although the population remained virtually stagnant between 1945 and 1975, the number of housing units in the state tripled, from about 1.5 million in 1940 to almost 5 million in 1975.  The period saw tremendous relocation of population away from urban cores and rural counties to concentrate in suburbs around boroughs and cities.  It also saw a major shift of population to the southeast quadrant of the state, outside of Philadelphia, in the sphere of the growing New York-DC megalopolis. In addition, the state’s economy went from a post-war industrial boom in the 1950s to the traumatizing bust of the 1970s, with accompanying restructuring of local economies and emergence of re-development schemes that dramatically affected residential patterns.

1958 Aerial Marple Township, Delaware County

We want researchers to ask questions such as:

• What role, such as zoning changes and creation of infrastructure, did the borough or township play in these developments?
• Why was new housing needed, and were the creators of the subdivisions trying to solve problems more serious than selling houses?
• Are there areas in the township outside of the city that experienced similar residential development, particularly residential development for people working in the city?
• Did the community specifically exclude African Americans or other ethnic or religious groups?
• Was there a biracial group or committee involved in the subdivision development?
• Who were the developers behind these residential developments and what construction/business strategies did they adopt?

Researchers also need to document how postwar development impacted the environment . Rampant postwar subdivision construction presented an opportunity for municipalities to discuss how to preserve open space and control growth. These concerns precipitated the 1968 enactment of the state’s Municipalities Planning Code act which provided authority for local, county and regional community planning in Pennsylvania.

The impact of municipal planning and the widespread establishment of municipal services, such as garbage pickup and public sewer/water, have interestingly also presented consequences for archaeological research at sites dating to the postwar period. These types of municipal services have reduced the presence of middens, privies and wells, which are some of the most productive feature types and artifact data sets commonly present on earlier sites. Consequently, traditional research questions cannot be applied in the same way to these postwar sites as to very late historic archaeological sites and it may be necessary to develop new research questions along with new methodologies. These questions may include: understanding changes to landscape and the built environment; cultural patterns; market interaction spheres; and class, ethnicity and race.

1950s architecture in Allegheny County

While postwar development was an important part of Pennsylvania’s past, not all postwar subdivisions can compare to the status of Levittown. Therefore, our guidelines for listing on the National Register of Historic Places states that rigorous evaluation of a property’s significance and integrity must be employed in order to generate a meaningful list.

Greystone Manor streetscape, Whitpain Township, Montgomery County

We hope that the Pennsylvania’s Historic Suburbs website will expand the way the public defines historic resources. Recently our office conducted the Community Preservation Values Survey as the first phase of the planning process for a new Statewide Historic Preservation Plan for 2012-2017. Over 90% of the 2200 Pennsylvanians surveyed said that preserving the traditional centers of their communities – the main streets with their town halls, churches, courthouses, schools and neighborhoods is important to their community’s future. Often it is difficult for communities to understand Modern and Recent Past properties as worthy of preserving. Our office believes that the presentation of a balanced view of the postwar period in Pennsylvania can only help to elevate the awareness of the need to preserve and plan for their management.

The post Pennsylvania’s Post World War II Suburbs appeared first on Pennsylvania Historic Preservation.

Delaware Canal State Park by Bradford Van Arnum (Sunweb52) (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Proceeds from the Keystone Fund are divided amongst several state agencies, including the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Education, State System of Higher Education, and Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.  The PHMC uses its allocation of Keystone Funds to support state-owned historic sites as well as provide grant funds to non-profit organizations and municipal governments for community-based historic preservation projects. 

While it is likely that many of the resources and communities supported by our partner agencies are historic in themselves (think Carnegie libraries, trails along canals, historic farms and rural communities), the Keystone grants offered by PHMC remain the only state-funded assistance specifically for historic preservation projects.  This includes both bricks-and-mortar projects as well as non-capital projects like National Register nominations, architectural plans, and reuse studies.

PHMC Executive Director Jim Vaughan and Teresa Mandic, Vice President of Programs, Pearl S. Buck International at the Keystone Awards Ceremony. Photo Courtesy of Mindy Crawford, Preservation Pennsylvania.

The winning project in the historic preservation category was the National Historic Landmark Pearl S. Buck House in Perkasie, Bucks County.  Home to the Nobel Prize winning author and philanthropist, the Pearl S. Buck House served as her home and as the headquarters for her foundation Pearl S. Buck International. The author used her influence as a writer to help children across the world through adoption, sponsorships and in-country programs. $135,000 of Keystone funds helped support the $2.8 million preservation of the historic main house. The funds were instrumental in leveraging other private and public funding to restore the house, which was at risk of closing its doors because of safety issues, structural problems, significant water damage and general disrepair. The third and final phase of the restoration of the house is currently underway and a grand reopening is planned for June 26, 2013, also Pearl S. Buck’s 121st birthday.

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in Philadelphia and the Ambler Theater, Montgomery County were also presented with Honorable Mentions for their achievements using Keystone funds.

The awards were presented by a coalition of non-profit partners who work with and on behalf of the entities who most directly benefit from Keystone Funds.  The coalition partners include Preservation Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, and Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society.  Among those present at the ceremony were PHMC Executive Director Jim Vaughan and Bureau for Historic Preservation Director Jean Cutler. Other dignitaries at the ceremony included some of the original legislative champions of the Keystone Fund, including former Lt. Governor Mark Singel, former Sen. F. Joseph Loeper, former Rep. William Lloyd and former Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs Karen Miller. 

Former Secretary of Community Affairs Karen Miller, State Rep. William Lloyd, Lt. Governor Mark Singel, and State Senator F. Joseph Loerper cutting the cake at the Keystone Awards Ceremony. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition.

The Coalition also presented the results of a recent economic impact study of the Keystone Fund, which found that projects supported by the Fund help create jobs and generate revenue, increase the value of nearby properties, boost spending at local businesses, make communities more attractive places to live, influence business location and relocation decisions, reduce medical costs by encouraging exercise and other healthy outdoor activities, provide low or no-cost recreation to families, stabilize local taxes in the communities in which they are located and help revitalize depressed areas.

Click here to read the press release about the ceremony.

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A Reading soldier remembered one sight in particular that delighted the young men of his regiment:

Crowds of people came out to the stations to meet us, and black and white, old and young, all joined in the heartiest demonstrations of welcome.  [We] were also greeted from the houses and roadsides all along the line by people waving their handkerchiefs and swinging their hats.  At Mechanicsburg a whole girls’ school was out to see us.  This was a specially engaging sight to some of our number, who thought that that village would be a good place to camp.   Soldiers of a day, we already began, in the midst of these inspiring scenes, to feel like real veterans.

The young ladies who nearly sidetracked an army that day were students at the nearby Irving Female College.

Irving Female College ca. 1857

 Founded in 1856, the Irving Female College was the first female college in Pennsylvania to grant degrees in arts and science.  The school was named for famed author Washington Irving, who served on the board of trustees until his death in 1859.  Irving Hall, a large Italianate building, was soon constructed “amongst a beautiful grove and grounds” located along the Cumberland Valley Railroad at the eastern end of Mechanicsburg (an area soon known as Irvington).  

Irving Hall today

Irving Hall could house “forty students, as well as supply the classroom, the parlor,library, and the college offices.”  The building was described as having, “…combined all the modern improvements for the promotion of health, comfort, and convenience.”  In the early days of the school, the average enrollment was 91 students (many of whom commuted to school from the surrounding region). 

  By the end of the 19^th- century, the College was prospering; a second building was needed.  Known as Columbian Hall, the new building “contained 40 additional dormitory rooms on the upper floors and a large auditorium on the first floor.”  In 1901, an expanded wing was added to the eastern wing of Irving Hall, creating rooms for music, a kitchen, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium.  Ten years later, a substantial President’s mansion was constructed on campus, near the corner of Simpson and Filbert Streets.  Built in the Spanish Renaissance style, the mansion was deemed as a proper home to “…entertain the faculty and students and his friends.”  The campus also grew by four acres, and was, by that time, landscaped with over 150 ornamental trees.  A cluster of the original trees still grows on the front lawn of the campus. 

In its hey-day, Irving Female College had buildings that were “…imposing in appearance, substantially built of brick, conveniently arranged, and comfortably fitted up with the modern conveniences, and every thing calculated to make it an attractive and safe home, with full and thorough educational advantages for young ladies.”  Some of Irving’s young women would go on to become accomplished alumnae, including Ida Kast, Cumberland County’s first female attorney, Lenore Embick Flower, a notable regional historian, suffragette, and genealogist, and Jane Deeter Ripon, President of the Girl Scouts of America.

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Postcard image of Columbian Hall ca. 1900 Todd, Roger K. Wish You Were Here: An Album of Cumberland County Post Cards. Carlisle, PA: The Cumberland County Historical Society and Hamilton Library Association, 1974.

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Postcard image of President’s Mansion, 1907. Irving and Columbian Halls can be seen in the background. Todd, Roger K. Wish You Were Here: An Album of Cumberland County Post Cards. Carlisle, PA: The Cumberland County Historical Society and Hamilton Library Association, 1974.

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Postcard image of Columbian Hall ca. 1900. The grapevines covering the building are believed to be transplants from the home of author Washington Irving. Reppert, Byron L. Mechanicsburg. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

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Postcard image of President’s Mansion, ca. 1900. Irving and Columbian Halls can be seen in the background. Reppert, Byron L. Mechanicsburg. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

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Auditorium on the first floor of Columbian Hall ca. 1900 Reppert, Byron L. Mechanicsburg. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

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Postcard image of Irving College ca. 1900 Reppert, Byron L. Mechanicsburg. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

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Image of “Irving Girl” Lenore Embick Flower from 1905 Irving College calendar Flower, Dawn. “Lenore Embrick Flower.” Cumberland County History, Vol. 10, no. 2 (Winter 1993): 81-96.

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Postcard image of Irving College ca. 1903. Collection of blog author, Dave Maher

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The presence of Irving Female College was not just enjoyed by those young Northern soldiers, but by the town as well, as it “…provided Mechanicsburg with a source of culture, music, great literature and drama that the rural town would not have experienced otherwise.”  Irving students would regularly put on plays and recitals at the College, which were well attended by the local population.  An alumna later said “The college meant a great deal to the community.  It was a social center.”

Irving students, costumed for a play, standing in front of Irving Hall ca. 1900

 Suffering through the Great Depression, and experiencing increased competition from larger, private universities, and state-funded colleges, the Irving Female College closed and sold its buildings by 1937.  Fortunately, shortly thereafter, through preservation and adaptive reuse, Irving and Columbian Halls’ interiors were renovated and converted into apartment space, which they still remain to this day.  The President’s mansion however, was demolished in the mid 1980s.

Irving Female College Historical Marker. photo by Bill Pfingsten, hmdb.org

 In 1954, recognizing the significance of the school, and urged on by the Irving College Reunion Club, the Cumberland County Historical Association, and others, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission placed a historical marker in front of the College, near the corner of Main and Filbert Streets.

Later, in 1983, the Irving Female College was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a significant part of the early story of women’s higher education in the United States.

 Sources:

Egle, M.D., William H. An Illustrated History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Civil,

Political, and Military, From it’s Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Historical Descriptions of Each County in the State, Their Towns, and Industrial Resources. Harrisburg, PA: De Witt C. Goodrich & Co., 1876.

 Flower, Dawn. “Lenore Embrick Flower.” Cumberland County History, Vol. 10, no. 2 (Winter1993): 81-96.

 “Irving Female College.”  Pennsylvania Historical Marker Files – Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office, Harrisburg, PA. 

Miniatures of Mechanicsburg. Mechanicsburg, PA: J.A. Bushman Co., 1928. 

Reppert, Byron L., Mechanicsburg. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

 Richards, Louis. Eleven Days in the Militia During the War of the Rebellion; Being a Journal of the “Emergency” Campaign of 1862. Philadelphia: Collins, Printer, 1883.

 Rose, Sarah, “Irving Female College National Register of Historic Places nomination form”, 1982.  On file at the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office, or online through the Cultural Resource GIS (CRGIS).

 Thompson, D.W., ed. Two Hundred Years in Cumberland County: A Collection of Documents and Pictures Illustrating Two Centuries of Life in Pennsylvania. Carlisle, PA: Hamilton Library and Historical Association of Cumberland County, 1951.

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