Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office
Hazard Mitigation in a Historic Context – Wrapping up the Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative
Three years ago, the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) announced that we were embarking on a new initiative to, for the first time in this office’s history, address the risks posed to historic properties by natural hazards, storms, and disasters. Continue reading
You win the prize if you said, “They will all have historical markers in PA!”. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recently approved 16 new historical markers! This year’s selections deliver another eclectic mix of pop culture, military, African American, film, and medical subjects. Continue reading
Perhaps no architectural style has been more cruelly reinterpreted in the modern era than the classy and distinctive French Second Empire style (also called the Mansard style). Continue reading
Historic resources inform citizens of their unique local heritage, cultural identity, and the origins of their community. They are the corner stones of our built environment and they provide a “sense of place”. In the aftermath of a disaster, these buildings, structures, objects, and sites are often associated with the very memories and connections that a community needs to begin to rebuild. Continue reading
Ever wonder just how much scholarship of construction chronology is behind your visit to a historic property in Pennsylvania? Or how that research is funded? Woodford is one of Fairmount Park’s most carefully documented and researched buildings because of its architectural significance and as its interpretive use as a historic house museum. Recorded in the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) in 1932 and listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1963, the building was studied and theorized by architectural historians for decades. The Naomi Wood Trust at Woodford Mansion turned to the PA SHPO’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program for financial help to plan the historic restoration of Woodford’s 1772 piazza on the west elevation of the 2-story main house. In addition to sifting through all of those relevant published sources and past theories, an archaeological investigation would be the foundation to restore this missing element. Continue reading
What could be simpler than understanding the design of the row house? I had a chance to take a walk through two of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods – Society Hill and South Philadelphia – and I started thinking about some of the changes to the iconic row house. Continue reading
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
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
As many of you already know, May is national Historic Preservation Month. What better way to kick-start our month-long celebration of historic preservation than with this year’s winners of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s 2017 Preservation Achievement Awards.
If you’re not familiar with the Preservation Alliance, they are the Philadelphia region’s non-profit, membership-based historic preservation advocacy group. Their work focuses on actively promoting the appreciation, protection, and revitalization of the Philadelphia area’s historic places and spaces and advocating for strong public preservation policies. Continue reading
High on a hill overlooking the Somerton neighborhood of Philadelphia stands Cranaleith Spiritual Center, a beautiful Shingle style house that overlooks ten acres of gardens, groves of trees, a pond, and a sensitively-designed modern retreat facility. It’s a lovely place nestled amongst a quiet residential neighborhood. But beneath the bucolic setting is a significant story about the struggle for equality, ties to important figures and events in the women’s suffrage movement, and an organization’s commitment to preserving and promoting those legacies. In January I spoke with Cranaleith staff about how they’re using those stories to raise the profile of the organization and attract new audiences to the facility and its mission. Continue reading
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