Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Bucks (Page 1 of 3)

Celebrating Preservation Success Stories with Community Initiative Awards

Earlier this week my Alexa reminded me that there are 100 days until the end of the year.  After a moment of shock, my brain started its mental cataloguing of all the things that I have to do before December 31. Deadlines, appointments, holidays, the list goes on…

One reminder I’d like to put on your to-do list before the year is out is to tell us about a preservation success story in your community. Each year PA SHPO selects a few of these stories for a Community Initiative Award.

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Celebrating the Slate Hill Cemetery

This week’s 2023 Community Initiative Award winner spotlight is on the Slate Hill Cemetery in Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County.

Lower Makefield’s Slate Hill Cemetery is an intact Colonial-era graveyard that was established in 1690 as a Quaker burial ground and was later expanded to include the township’s first public cemetery. It contains about 580 burials, including veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops who served in the Civil War. The earliest known burial dates to 1698 and the last known burial was in 1918.

Recently, the Township – which is one of Pennsylvania’s Certified Local Governments (CLG) – began an ambitious project to document, preserve, and promote the history of the cemetery.  I asked some of the folks from the Historical Commission, which is spearheading the effort, to share the story with us.

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Celebrating Preservation Month with the 2023 Community Initiative Award Winners

For the past few years, PA SHPO has kicked off National Historic Preservation Month by announcing the newest Community Initiative Award winners. The four 2023 recipients and their projects showcase a variety of preservation success stories, demonstrating the importance of preserving those places at the heart of Pennsylvania’s communities that embody its past and present stories.

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Highlights of Pennsylvania Archaeology

November is Native American Heritage Month. The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. One of the ways to learn about Native American heritage in Pennsylvania is through archaeology.

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A Look at the PASS Year: The 2021 Annual PASS Report

It’s that time of the year again! Time to report and reflect on another successful year of archaeological site recording efforts throughout Pennsylvania. In 2021, over 300 new archaeological sites were recorded by cultural resource management (CRM) projects, independent and university research projects, Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA) members, and long-time avocational archaeologist.

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The National Cemetery at Indiantown Gap

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs website, nearly 4.9 million individuals—including Veterans of every conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—are honored by burial in our national cemeteries.

Each year about 15 percent of all eligible Veterans are interred in a national cemetery, while about 5 percent opt for a State, Territorial or Tribal Veterans Cemetery. The national cemeteries’ memorial landscapes convey critical stories about American history and reflect the evolution of our care and commemoration of our military veterans.

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George Nakashima Woodworkers Property, a National Historic Landmark and Source for Inspiration and Peace

I’ve been lucky enough to visit the idyllic George Nakashima Woodworkers property in Solebury Township, Bucks County three times, once for “work” but each time a genuine pleasure, and I will jump at any chance to return. I hope this deep-ish dive into the story behind George Nakashima and his property inspire you to learn more and visit.

The Nakashima complex (PA-SHARE Resource #2007RE01239) was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service (NPS) in 2014, one of 169 NPS “Landmarks” in Pennsylvania.

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