Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Heritage Tourism (Page 5 of 6)

History with a slice of pie: on the road with the Heinrichs

Late in August this summer Keith and I found ourselves in Westmoreland County, on a rare working Saturday, with a couple hours of down time. Between my meeting with a consultant in the morning and Keith’s event to celebrate the National Register listing of the Concord School in the evening, we needed a plan: something better than hanging out at the closest mall or park for a few hours. Continue reading

Looking Down The Road: The PHMC’s Role in Regional Transportation Planning

Over the past several years the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has developed an innovative partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to provide regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) with free technical assistance to help them develop their Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTP). Supported by funding from FHWA, the goal is to encourage these planning organizations to integrate cultural resources and historic preservation issues into their transportation planning.  Continue reading

Unscripted: an archaeologist’s journey into the world of film production

In my position here at BHP, I am involved in a wide variety of activities, in addition to my primary job duty, review of compliance projects in the Western Region for archaeology. Most of these activities center on keeping all the internal bits and parts of BHP moving, including processing archaeological reports for final storage in our archive, collaborating on updating our Guidelines for Archaeological Investigation, or chairing the committee on addressing our bureau storage and archive issues. All of these activities keep me entirely within my Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Management comfort zone. Like all comfort zones, though, it can sometimes get, well, a little too comfortable. Back in the summer of 2011, looking for a change of pace, I volunteered to manage a PennDOT/Federal Highways (FHWA) mitigation project: a short film about historic bridges aimed at inspiring public interest in bridge advocacy. Did I know anything about historic bridges? Nope. Did I know anything about producing films? Nope. Did I know a great deal about public advocacy? Nope. Piece of cake, right? Continue reading

For PHMC, Preservation Begins at Home

Not everyone appreciates the beauty, simplicity and architectural honesty of mid-century modern architecture.  As in every age and style there are good examples, bad examples, and occasionally, a truly exemplary work of architecture.  Fortunately for PHMC, The State Museum and Archives building in Harrisburg is an exemplary work of mid-century modern design.  Continue reading

BHP’s Offbeat Outings: Worlds End

Offbeat Outings is a bi-monthly series that highlights the travels of BHP staff as they experience history first-hand throughout Pennsylvania.

A few weeks ago, I headed north on Friday afternoon and drove just over 100 miles to Worlds End State Park in Sullivan County.  Until living in Harrisburg and working for the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office, my territory was mostly focused south and east of Franklin County.  Traveling north by myself was a new experience.  Having had some pretty great adventures, I was surprised by this experience and by finding a landscape of such dynamic character.  Continue reading

Community Preservation Workshop in Erie – June 20

Event will feature experts from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and Preservation Pennsylvania

Erie Community Preservation Workshop FlyerPreservation Erie and the Erie County Historical Society are collaborating to present an Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority Mission Main Street workshop. The event will take place June 20, 2014, from 9a.m. to 3p.m. at the Jefferson Educational Society, 3207 State Street, Erie, Pa. Event updates and RSVP details are available under the Events tab on Preservation Erie’s website.

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Lynn Hall: A Nexus of Design Perspectives

Lynn Hall, located in McKean County on Route 6 just west of Port Allegany was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in December of 2006. Lynn Hall was designed and built as a restaurant/ ballroom and residence by local master builder Walter Hall and his architect son Raymond Viner (R.V.) Hall. Walter Hall was the head contractor and builder of one of the most iconic and well-known buildings in the United States—or anywhere—Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. Continue reading

An ERIEsistable Journey

The odometer read 19 when we rolled out of the state garage.   We had an ambitious three-day schedule planned to northwestern Pennsylvania.  The Bureau’s new director, Serena Bellew, had never been to the ‘Erie triangle’ or the northwest corner of the Commonwealth and she was in for a treat… or two, or three – because great local eateries were also on the itinerary.  Our mantra for the trip was “positive preservation.”  At each stop we planned to meet with some of our partners who have been thoughtfully and purposefully working toward accomplishing various preservation goals.

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