The U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, describes the National Register of Historic Places as “the official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. National Register properties have significance to the prehistory or history of their community, State, or the Nation (NPS 1990, revised 1997). Continue reading
Category: National Register of Historic Places (Page 23 of 24)
Spotlight Series: The Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site
“Well How Do They Know That?”: Shawnee-Minisink and How We Know What We Know About Prehistoric Peoples at One Archaeological Site. Continue reading
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recently approved 21 new historical markers. Approval Criteria require that marker subjects must have statewide and/or national rather than local or regional historical significance. After the jump is a quick look at this year’s approved markers. Continue reading
If you haven’t participated in a Pennsylvania National Register nomination you may not have experienced a Historic Preservation Board meeting. But that shouldn’t stop you! The meetings are open to the public and we welcome all preservation aficionados to attend a future meeting. The 2014 schedule is posted on our website. The nominations to be reviewed at an upcoming meeting will also be posted to the website about one month prior to the scheduled meeting.
The purpose of the Historic Preservation Board is to provide expert judgments about the historical, architectural, and archeological significance of resources in Pennsylvania as authorized by Section 101 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and Sections 504 and 505 of the Pennsylvania History Code. Continue reading
Last month we discussed Section 106 consultation and how the outcome of the process is not predetermined but rather a result of the interaction among the participants, with the Federal agency making the final decision about how a project will proceed. Agencies in coordination with consulting parties are required to consider project design options that avoid or minimize effects to historic properties. However, it is not always possible to meet the needs of the project and simultaneously preserve a historic property. Continue reading
Offbeat Outings is a bi-monthly series that highlights the travels of BHP staff as they experience history first-hand throughout Pennsylvania.
My name is Dave, and I’m an addicted heritage tourist. However, as I’m sure most readers of this blog can confess, I am not alone. In fact, Heritage Tourism brings billions of dollars to Pennsylvania each year, with historic communities and districts creating the largest draw. Continue reading
Many months of planning and meetings have culminated in the August 2013 re-launch of the Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS). Continue reading
Preserving the Oley Valley Rural Historic District in Pennsylvania
by Brenda Barrett
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in the Living Landscape Observer and appears here with the permission of the author and founder of that publication, Brenda Barrett. We appreciate Brenda’s contributions and reporting on this subject.
Oley Valley gristmill. Credit: Zachary Pyle.
Even in a state famous for its agricultural landscapes, the Oley Valley in southeast Pennsylvania is an exceptional place. Located in a in a bowl-shaped valley flanked by the forested hills of the Reading Prong and underlain by limestone, the region is drained by two small creeks, the Manataway and the smaller Monocacy. English Quakers, French Huguenots, and Palatine farmers from Switzerland and Germany settled in the valley as early as 1725 in search of religious freedom and good farmland. They found both, producing an 18th-century pattern of farmsteads, fields, and villages that has marked the landscape ever since. Continue reading
Local Landmarks For Sale: National Guard Armories
There is an armory in almost every county in Pennsylvania. Some counties have two or three. They are one of the most historically significant and, in most cases, architecturally distinctive buildings in the communities lucky enough to host one. The National Guard in Pennsylvania has a long history of military and civic service and the armories are the physical expression of that history. The Department of General Services is offering eleven of these historic armories for sale. This is the perfect opportunity to adaptively reuse these buildings and retain an important landmark in your community. Continue reading
A Mid-century Modern Quandary
When is an ugly building just an ugly building?
In the almost 50 years since the passage the landmark and policy setting National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the world of historic preservation has evolved to reflect the complexities and new understanding of the field. Continue reading
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