Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Allegheny (Page 9 of 11)

Wiley’s Bridge is located along Bowers Road in Berks County. Public interest has spurred talks of preservation for this rare Whipple Through Truss bridge. Courtesy of historicbridges.org. Used by permission of Nathan Holth.

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

March 15, 2017 / / 7 Comments

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!

November 30, 2016 / / 0 Comments

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

1803 George Armstrong house, approximately 17 x 17 feet, now at Depreciation Lands Museum. Photograph by Charles Richmond, 2013.

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

August 24, 2016 / / 2 Comments

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

August 10, 2016 / / 3 Comments

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

Township of Moon Historic Preservation Plan cover by T&B Planning, Inc. Source: PA SHPO files.

A Tale of Three Cities: Moon Township

June 8, 2016 / / 3 Comments

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

Just Listed!

May 11, 2016 / / 3 Comments

Western Pennsylvania has been a hotbed of National Register activity during the past year. From three Washington County farms, to an industrial facility and a Salvation Army building in Pittsburgh, to a Masonic lodge in Latrobe and a synagogue in Brownsville, the National Park Service has recently listed an eclectic variety of properties in that part of the state.

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March’s SHPO Shout-Out!

March 30, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Question: What do a Georgian country estate, an African American Methodist Church, the Whiskey Rebellion, and Chester County all have in common?

Stumped? Can’t think of an answer? Then you’re not paying attention! It’s the last Wednesday of the month, which means its SHPO Shout-Out Day, and this month’s Shout Outs go to an interesting array of worthy preservation activities in Pennsylvania. That’s not to say that these are the only good preservation projects out there. We know there are more! You just need to drop me a note and tell me about what’s going on in your neck of the woods.

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December’s SHPO Shout-Out

December 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

It’s hard to believe that a month has gone by since our first ever SHPO Shout-Out! I’ll give my own Shout-Out to everyone who liked, posted, shared, tweeted, and emailed our November post to spread the word not only about the great projects I featured but also to let people know that we’d like to crowd-source candidates for future posts.  The number of emails I got from readers with ideas for candidates were low – like zero! – but I understand that you’re all just getting used to the idea, right?!  I can’t possibly know about all the good preservation victories across the 46,055 sq. mi. that make up Pennsylvania and I need your help!

shout out 4 Continue reading

Announcing the PA SHPO Shout-Out!

November 4, 2015 / / 0 Comments

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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Courtesy of Preservation Pennsylvania.

People Power at the 2015 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards

September 2, 2015 / / 2 Comments

by Sabra Smith, Preservation Pennsylvania

What is the preservation community’s most important asset? It’s the people! Those passionate, creative, place-loving, story-telling folks who wear invisible super hero capes and do their best work so that a beloved landmark is restored, or a neighborhood story is discovered, or a community of advocates is activated. Continue reading

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