Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office
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
Happy Fourth of July Pennsylvania – and Happy Anniversary Keystone Fund – from the PASHPO staff! Continue reading
Your State Historic Preservation Office has been hard at work since our last Just Listed column appeared on this blog. Since that post , the National Park Service has approved over 30 Pennsylvania listings (!) for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Continue reading
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
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