Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Dauphin (Page 4 of 5)

Let’s Raise a Glass to the 100th Anniversary of Prohibition! (Preferably at a historic brewery)

The year 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. In Pennsylvania, a state with a large number of breweries, courtesy of our English and German ancestry, as well as an excellent climate for the growing of hops and malt, the impact was dramatic.

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Lykens: A Case Study on the After-Effects of Flooding on Pennsylvania’s Communities

In the last installment about the ongoing Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative we focused on survey work in the City of Harrisburg. Since that time, the survey teams led by Commonwealth Heritage Group and ASC Group have moved on to other communities in Dauphin County.

Located at the northern end of the county, Lykens Borough is home to a large number of properties that are both over 45 years old and located in the 100-year floodplain. The survey teams spent more than a week collecting flood elevation data on 227 buildings throughout the borough. While there, we met many residents who talked about Tropical Storm Agnes and how flooding from the storm changed the community in profound and lasting ways.

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400 Years of African American History

It’s been 400 years since the documented arrival of African people in America. In August 1619 the first enslaved Africans were brought to the English colonies at Point Comfort, Virginia. To recognize the contributions and commemorate the resilience of African Americans, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) will be sharing highlights from the Pennsylvania Historical Markers dedicated to African Americans and the contributions they’ve made to Pennsylvania’s rich and diverse heritage.

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Summer 2018 PA Historic Tax Credit Update

After a chaotic winter where one of the federal government’s most successful historic preservation programs over the past 40 years – the Historic Preservation Tax Credit – was almost eliminated during federal tax reform, there is a lot to catch up on relating to both the federal and Pennsylvania historic tax credit programs. 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

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

People Power at the 2015 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards

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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