Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Historic Preservation (Page 10 of 49)

O’er the Bridge We Go!

For many, the holidays are filled with stories and traditions of the past.  Just hearing the song Jingle Bells makes me wonder what it would feel like to go dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh. Or better yet, to ride a sleigh over a historic metal truss bridge.  Oh, what fun that would be!

Continue reading

The Union Project: Planning for a Community Asset

At the start of the 20th century, Pittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood was becoming a bustling place. The leaders of the United Presbyterian Church decided to build a new church, which became the Second United Presbyterian Church, at the corner of North Negley and Stanton Avenues in the city’s east end in 1903. 

Continue reading

Learning about Historic Tax Credits with Homestead’s Bishop Boyle High

The Bishop Boyle High School is another preservation success story for Homestead, a small Pennsylvania borough on the south side of the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh and Braddock.

Following the Homestead Masonic Hall a few years ago, Bishop Boyle High School in the Homestead Historic District has also been rehabilitated into housing with the help of the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Tax Credit and federal Historic Tax Credit programs.

Continue reading

Retelling the Stories of Existing Resources: Adding New Areas of Significance to National Register Properties

Researching the history of a building can feel like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle from a thrift store without the box. You might get most of the pieces to fit together so that you can tell the story of that place, but some are still missing, leaving gaps in the narrative.

If you’re anything like me, you might find those gaps frustrating, but they’re also opportunities to learn things you never could have imagined about a place.

Continue reading

Special Announcement! PA SHPO is Hiring a National Register Reviewer

Are you a highly skilled historic preservationist with National Register and GIS experience? The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking an Historic Preservation Specialist to work as a National Register reviewer and triage specialist, focused on historic districts and survey.

APPLY BY 12/10/2022 11:59 PM EST. All applications must be filed online at http://www.employment.pa.gov/.

Continue reading

Have a Barn in Need of Repair? HBFF has a Grant Opportunity for You!

Do you have a barn or agricultural outbuilding that is 50 years or older in need of repairs? Does it retain a significant degree of historic character and materials? Then the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania (HBFF) has a grant opportunity for you!

This year marks the inauguration of HBFF’s matching grant program to encourage the maintenance and repair of historic barns and outbuildings throughout Pennsylvania as one way to promote and support the preservation of Pennsylvania’s rural heritage.

Continue reading

Meet the Paleo-Digger

October is Archaeology Month! Today’s post by Guest Contributor PennDOT archaeologist Steve McDougal covers using a non-traditional method for field tests: the Paleo-Digger.

Every archaeological survey poses different conditions and challenges. For PennDOT’s SR 22/322 safety improvement project in Northern Dauphin County, one of the big challenges is the depth of soils involved. Past excavation in the 1990s for this area showed us that the soil column with archaeological potential could extend 3.5 to 4.5 meters (11.5 to 14.75 feet) in depth below current ground surface.

Continue reading
« Older posts Newer posts »
Wordpress Social Share Plugin powered by Ultimatelysocial