Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office
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.
Continue reading
In my short time as an archaeologist working in southeast Pennsylvania, I’ve learned that every basement, crawl space, and root cellar older than 1860 was at one time, a stop on the Underground Railroad (UGRR). This of course is not true, but the mythologies of the UGRR are born out of the fact that the region played an important role in the network as the first free state north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Continue reading
American philanthropist Julius Rosenwald is best known for his work in the rural South in the early 20th century building schools for African American children. Before his 1917 fund changed the face of education and race in the country, he helped African American communities from coast-to-coast build YMCAs. Of the two dozen facilities Rosenwald funded in fourteen states, three were in Pennsylvania.
Continue reading
In last week’s post, we introduced you to this past summer’s Juniata College Field School at Fort Halifax Park in Halifax, Dauphin County. This week, we’ll tell you about the “major discovery” we hinted at last week!
Continue reading
On our first day at our field school in archaeology, we searched through the soil for mountain peaks: or rather, mountain peak-shaped rocks. That’s the tip we were given for finding flakes -fragments of stone produced by Native American flintknapping.
Continue readingJune is Pride Month and an opportunity to recognize, celebrate, and support LGBTQ+ communities. This week’s post is another in our “Resource Round-Up” series, which we occassionally publish during important months as a guide to learning more about the older and historic places and spaces in Pennsylvania that reflect that month’s theme. This one highlights just some sources related to LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Continue reading
Spring has sprung in Harrisburg! So when I was deciding what National Register resource to focus on for this week’s blog post, my office mate/dining room table neighbor/husband suggested we take a walk through Harrisburg Cemetery, listed in the National Register in 1985.
Continue readingSoon fans of Pennsylvania’s historical markers will be braking for 23 new ones. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) recently approved the next batch of new historical markers at their March 2021 meeting.
Continue readingIn this crazy year, the PA SHPO’s blog is the one thing you could count on every week to bring you all sorts of current, relevant, fun and interesting information. I have actually won a trivia contest or two because of something I read in one of our weekly posts!
Here is a short recap of the year at pahistoricpreservation.com…
Continue readingSince 1990, November has been recognized across the United States as Native American Heritage Month.
In Pennsylvania, the story of the Native American peoples who lived in what is now the commonwealth is largely told through archaeology and the sites and artifacts that are uncovered across the landscape.
This story, which is still unfolding, is complex, rich, and varied and I can’t begin to do it justice in just one blog post. What I can do, however, is provide you with a snapshot of what archaeology tells us about Native American history in Pennsylvania and hopefully inspire you to learn more.
Continue reading© 2026 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
Recent Comments