Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: York (Page 2 of 3)

Pennsylvania’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit At Work: SFY2021-2022 Update

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (PA DCED) recently announced that it has awarded $5 million in Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Tax Credits (PA HPTC) to 25 projects across the commonwealth through the FY 2021-2022 PA HPTC Allocation. The next round will open on October 1.

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Just Listed! August – December 2021

We have an interesting mix of National Register recent listings to bring you for this installment of “Just Listed”.  We’ve got an African American YMCA, a few interesting industrial properties making everything from jute cordage to furniture to yarn, a farm, a house, farm, school, and more.

If you’re interested in learning more about any of these properties – or looking to up your trivia game with some Pennsylvania fun facts, you can find a copy of the full National Register Nominations on PA-SHARE.

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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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Just listed!! An Update from the PA SHPO’s National Register staff

Before we talk about the newest additions to the National Register in Pennsylvania, let’s try a little National Register trivia:

Question 1:

Is something listed IN the National Register of Historic Places, or ON the National Register of Historic Places?

If you answered “in,” you are correct (at least according to the National Park Service.) I like to remember it like this: the original National Register was an actual book – so you were listed IN the register. Unfortunately google has failed to show me a photo of that original book to share with you.

Plaque on rocl

The Hood Octagonal School is located in Newtown Square, Delaware County.  Photo from the Newtown Square Historical Society Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hood-Octagonal-School/105623426138515.

Question 2:

How many criteria do you have to meet to be listed in the Register?

Just one!

Remember, there are 4 criteria:

  • A: That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
  • B: That are associated with the lives of significant persons in our past; or
  • C: That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
  • D: That have yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory.

BUT, a property only has to meet ONE of them to be potentially listed in the Register. Interestingly, in Pennsylvania the most common criterion is C (architecture), followed by A (significant events).

Question 3:

One more! How many properties are listed in the National Register in Pennsylvania?

An excellent question! The answer is a specifically vague “there are just over 3,200 NR listed resources.” However, that number does not account for the large number of properties that contribute to historic districts! Because so many of the district nominations are old, dating to the beginning of the NR process, there is not a complete inventory available for every district in the Commonwealth. So, the actual number of listed properties is significantly higher than 3,200!

Now on to our new listings…

Since our last Just Listed blog post in June, Pennsylvania has added 2 objects (the Mason Dixon West Line Milestone Markers 76 and 77), and eight buildings to the list.

You will notice something unusual about the Mason Dixon Markers on the list below – it says Maryland! Well, because the markers denote the boundary between our two states, the Maryland SHPO originally approved the nomination, and then shared it with the PA SHPO for approval by our Historic Preservation Board.  These Markers came with some of the best letters of support we’ve ever received – hand drawn pictures of the stones by some future historic preservationists.

Stone

Mason and Dixon Marker Number 76.

 

Letter

This nomination even had support from some future preservationists!

We have also had a Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) approved for Public Schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1938-ca.1980, which you may remember from a previous blog post. This will allow us to more easily list many more public school buildings in Philly, since the context has now been developed and finalized. If you’d like to read the documentation, you can find it on the City of Philadelphia’s website – here!

When we submit an MPDF to the Park Service for approval, we are required to submit a nomination along with it to test the application of the proposed registration requirements. This time we sent two! Joining the recently listed properties in PA are the Charles Carroll Public School, 2700 E Auburn Street, and the M. Hall Stanton Public School, at 2539 N. 16th Street.

The Carroll School is significant under Criterion A for education. It is an example of Philadelphia school reform and design, particularly during the “Urban Crisis Era” from c.1965 – 1980. The Charles Carroll Public School was not listed in the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s under the original “Philadelphia Public Schools Thematic Resources” due to the presence of the 1970 addition, which was seen at the time as negatively impacting the school’s integrity.   The newly completed MPDF now provides a context in which to evaluate and list a school such as this, with a significant unique and local story to tell.

Building

The 1920s Charles Carroll Public School, Philadelphia, in 2017. Photograph by Robert Powers from the Charles Carroll High School National Register Nomination.

The M. Hall Stanton Public School, also listed under Criterion A, has a period of significance from the completion of construction to 1968, when the community was lobbying for school reform and inclusion within the Model Cities program.

If you have a property you’d love to see listed in the National Register – tell us about it!! Take a photo and post it to Instagram with the #preservationhappenshere hashtag, and tell us in the caption why you think the property is eligible. We’d love to see more buildings listed in Pennsylvania and record more of stories about the Commonwealth’s built environment!

Here are all the properties listed in the last 6 months:

MARYLAND, FREDERICK COUNTY,
Mason and Dixon West Line Milestone Markers 76 and 77,
716 Mason Dixon Rd.,
Harney vicinity, SG100002789,
LISTED, 8/21/2018

PENNSYLVANIA, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY,
Martin, C.F. & Company.,
10 W North & 201 N Main Sts.,
Nazareth, SG100002837,
LISTED, 9/4/2018

PENNSYLVANIA, YORK COUNTY,
Whiteford, Hugh and Elizabeth Ross, House,
306 Broad St.,
Delta, SG100002988,
LISTED, 9/21/2018

Public Schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1938-ca.1980 MPS,
MC100002985,
COVER DOCUMENTATION APPROVED, 9/25/2018

PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY,
Carroll, Charles, Public School,
2700 E Auburn St.,
Philadelphia, MP100002986,
LISTED, 9/25/2018
(Public Schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1938-ca.1980 MPS)

PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY,
Stanton, M. Hall, Public School,
2539 N 16th St.,
Philadelphia, MP100002987,
LISTED, 9/25/2018
(Public Schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1938-ca.1980 MPS)

PENNSYLVANIA, CHESTER COUNTY,
Ivy Cottage,
225 W. Lincoln Hwy.,
Exton vicinity, 84003961,
LISTED, 11/9/2018
(West Whiteland Township MRA)

PENNSYLVANIA, ALLEGHENY COUNTY,
Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant,
5000 Baum Blvd.,
Pittsburgh, SG100003134,
LISTED, 11/20/2018

PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY,
Crown Can Company Building,
956 E Erie Ave.,
Philadelphia, SG100003136,
LISTED, 11/20/2018

PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA COUNTY,
Strawbridge and Clothier Department Store Warehouse,
901 Poplar St.,
Philadelphia, SG100003137,
LISTED, 11/20/2018

Protecting against Future Floods: Floodproofing Workshops in PA

During the week of August 13th, The Pennsylvania Silver Jackets hosted floodproofing workshops in York, Lewisburg, and Wellsboro, and the State Historic Preservation Office had a representative (me) there to answer questions from public officials and members of the public.

Now I’m sure you have a lot of questions. What are Silver Jackets? Why was PA SHPO there? What are Flood Proofing Workshops? These are all excellent questions; let’s address them one at a time and look at some example of real-life flood proofing projects and their effects on historic resources.

Pennsylvania Silver Jackets

To quote the Silver Jackets website, the “Pennsylvania Silver Jackets is an interagency team dedicated to working collaboratively with the commonwealth and appropriate stakeholders in developing and implementing solutions to flood hazards by combining available agency resources, which include funding, programs, and technical expertise.”

Silver Jackets – multiple agencies, one solution!

Why the name? Different agencies have specific colors they use for their jackets during emergency response (think blue FEMA jackets after Hurricane Katrina), but nobody had yet claimed silver, so it serves as a unifying color for all agencies. Every state except for Hawaii has a Silver Jackets team, and Pennsylvania’s meets quarterly in Harrisburg to plan outreach and discuss project opportunities.

Community outreach is one of the Silver Jackets’ priorities.

Flood Proofing Workshops

Each day included two workshops – one in the afternoon for public officials and one in the evening for members of the public.

People sitting at tables

Floodproofing workshop in Lewisburg, Union County, on August 15, 2018.

In the world of emergency management, floodproofing measures are a subset of hazard mitigation and are divided into two general categories: structural and non-structural. These workshops focused on non-structural floodproofing methods. Somewhat confusingly, “non-structural” floodproofing measures include lots of projects that directly affect, alter, move, or even demolish existing structures.

Structural floodproofing includes projects that involve building something new, such as a dam or levee, while non-structural floodproofing includes projects that include no construction or alterations to existing buildings. Basically, non-structural floodproofing includes everything than an individual property owner can do to her property.

This can include planning, relocating utilities above projected flood levels, filling in a basement, elevating, or even relocating a building to remove it from flood risk.

Hufnagle Park in Lewisburg, PA

While in Lewisburg, I had some time between meetings to explore the borough (and look for something to eat.) Walking down Market Street, I passed Hufnagle Park and saw families strolling along a stream. As it turns out, this park is an example of a large hazard mitigation project to reduce flood risks by increasing open space along the stream.

Stream in a park

Looking southeast along Bull Run in Lewisburg, PA in August 2018.

The Borough of Lewisburg collaborated with Bucknell University in 2004 to produce The Lewisburg Neighborhood Project, a plan to address a range of concerns including student housing availability and flood hazards. One of the central projects in the plan was the Bull Run Greenway, a system of parks, trails, and green spaces along a stream that runs through the borough.

In 2012 the Borough used federal funds to purchase and demolish ten private properties on 6th Street southwest of Bull Run that were at heightened risk of repeated flooding. These buildings were within the Lewisburg Historic District, so mitigation of this project was required in the form of recordation of the to-be-demolished buildings and their immediate context. In the photo above, the demolished structures would have been visible on the right-hand side. Below are some example photos provided in the recordation package.

Two story house

Lewisburg’s 102 South 6th Street in 2012, now demolished.

 

Two-story house

Lewisburg’s 112 & 114 South 6th Street in 2012, now demolished.

This type of project is often referred to as “demolition-acquisition”, and it is perhaps the most permanent form of hazard mitigation that FEMA funds. No funds will ever have to be spent on these properties again, and, by converting the land to permanent open space, surrounding properties could benefit as well. When a property is acquired using FEMA funds, it is required to remain open or park space in perpetuity. The next time it floods, water from Bull Run will have a little more space to flow and might not have as much of an impact on the houses across the street. Of course, ten buildings are now gone forever.

Peer State Example

There are hazard mitigation measures that can have less of a negative impact on historic buildings, but sometimes they require an extra level of creativity to balance hazard mitigation requirements with historic integrity.

As an example from outside of the commonwealth, new owners of the old Spaghetti Warehouse building in Houston, Texas are embarking on major rehabilitation project. The building is a contributing resource in the Main Street Market Square Historic District, but it backs up to Buffalo Bayou and was damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

As shown in the rendering below, the project would actually open the building up to water; in future floods, the bayou will be able to flow right through the back and side wall. The only fully enclosed and condition space will be on the second floor, and even that will be set back from the two newly opened walls.

Drawing of two-story brick building

Rendering of proposed changes to 901 Commerce; Houston Planning and Development.

Despite these changes, the owner intends to make full use of 901 Commerce with a bar on the second floor and market space on the first floor and basement. Food trucks will even be able to pull directly into the basement. This is, of course, a pretty extensive alteration to this building, but it might provide a thoughtful alternative for how to live with water without losing our built heritage.

And that brings us back to three days of workshops in central Pennsylvania. Bull Run flooded in 2011 in Lewisburg, and Houston is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, so flooding remains front of mind.

Flooding is not a constant problem in most of our communities, but it is a continuous one. In times between disasters (what emergency managers refer to as “blue sky”), it’s easy to fall into familiar practices and forget to prepare for future flooding.

These three workshops happened to coincide with weeks of record rainfall in central PA, but even if they hadn’t, they were intended to remind people who the risk of flooding is not going away. Whether you own a home that might be damaged, or work for an agency or local community, there are things you can do to help safeguard against the next flood, and there are people and agencies available to answer questions and provide assistance.

 

John Gardosik is the Hurricane Sandy Recover Project Manager at the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office. Though new to Pennsylvania, he is married to a Lancaster native and is enjoying getting to know the Commonwealth.

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

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