Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Allegheny (Page 8 of 10)

Listening to the Public: Results of the Marketing Archaeology Survey

In the previous Marketing Archaeology blog post, we introduced you to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)-eligible Armstrong Site and the associated current Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) road reconstruction and widening project . Continue reading

CLG Spotlight: Pittsburgh

From Philadelphia (Pop. 1.5 million) to Mercersburg, Franklin County (Pop. 1500) and located in over a third of Pennsylvania counties, the Certified Local Government (CLG) program provides exclusive funding and technical assistance for local governments. This week’s post introduces us to Pittsburgh as a CLG and provides a glimpse into the amazing things they are doing through this program. Continue reading

Just Listed!

It is time to highlight some of Pennsylvania’s recently listed historic properties! Since our last post ( Just Listed!) in May, 2016, 20 nominations have been approved by the National Park Service in the Commonwealth. Because several of these are districts, that means that over 1600 properties in the Commonwealth have been added to the National Register! Continue reading

2017’s Newly Approved Markers

I am happy to announce that the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recently approved 18 new historical markers!

As you’ll see from the list below, over half of the approved subjects are for markers in Philadelphia County. The Marker Program encourages broad distribution, so we’d love to see more individuals and organizations from Pennsylvania’s other 66 counties research their history and develop nominations for people, places, events, and innovations in their own backyard. Continue reading

Bridge to the Past: PennDOT’s Historic Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan

In June 2016, I was hired as the Transportation Special Initiatives Coordinator in the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).  This new position was created through a special funding agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and was developed to assist them in marketing the state’s historic metal truss bridges. My position has evolved over the last 9 months and I see my purpose as helping both PennDOT and the SHPO preserve the remaining population of historic metal truss bridges by either marketing them for an adaptive reuse at a new location or helping to develop and implement a management plan to rehabilitate these bridges as part of the transportation system. Continue reading

November’s SHPO Shout Out!

Tis the season to be thankful – after all, Thanksgiving was just last week and more holidays are just around the corner – and I for one have been rattling off a list of all the great places in Pennsylvania that I am thankful for and appreciate.  The SHPO Shout Out, which, btw, turns 1 year old this month, was intended to send out a big thank you in celebration of all the great people and projects that preserve Pennsylvania’s history everyday.  Thank you for all you do to help preserve, protect, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic places and spaces!  Read on to see who gets a Shout Out Thank You this month.  Make sure to let me know who else we should be thanking and recognizing! Continue reading

Marketing Archaeology: A Non-Scientific Survey about Public Outreach Tools

Fostering a public appreciation for historic resources and archaeology is one of the most important keys to protecting our history.

Unfortunately, many cultural resources professionals struggle with how to make their work accessible and interesting to the general public. In this blog post, we take on this challenge and announce the launch of a non-scientific, but very intriguing experiment to explore how the public responds to different avenues of communication – brochures, social media and web tools. Continue reading

Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Tax Credit Year 3 Recap

Due to Fiscal Year 2015-2016 budget challenges, the status of Year 3 of Pennsylvania’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit program was up in the air through March 2016.  With the enactment of a budget, there was a brief application window with a March 24, 2016 deadline. The shortened budget period did impact the total number of applications to the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) as the total decreased from 30 in the second round to 23 applications for the third round.

PHMC quickly reviewed the applications to ensure applicants owned qualified historic buildings and that proposed rehabilitation plans met the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.  As the qualified applications far exceed the limited $3 million in available credits, DCED used a fair and balanced selection process based on a first -come, first serve basis with regional distribution to select the first round of projects.  Continue reading

A Tale of Three Cities: Moon Township

45 communities in Pennsylvania have a formal working relationship with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PASHPO) on a variety of preservation-related programs and projects. Known as Certified Local Governments (CLGs) these communities represent a broad geographic, demographic and economic swath across the Commonwealth. From Philadelphia (Pop. 1.5 million) to Mercersburg, Franklin County (Pop. 1500) and located in over a third of Pennsylvania counties, the CLG program provides exclusive funding and technical assistance for local governments. The CLG program is one of several federal programs administered by the PASHPO; in this case, the National Park Service provides guidance, rules and funding for the CLG program.     Continue reading

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