Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Quality of Life (Page 1 of 5)

Be a Part of Discovering and Celebrating the Humanities in Pennsylvania

PA Humanities and Drexel University have launched the PA Humanities Discovery Project, an effort to map, network, and celebrate Pennsylvania’s wonderfully rich humanities landscape to build a more expansive and connected statewide community for sharing, learning, and advocacy.

The first step is to collect information from Pennsylvanians like you about what important humanities-centered work you and your organization are doing with an online survey.

Don’t wait to participate! The survey closes on December 5, 2022.

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Preservation Planning in Beaver Borough

Beaver is a lovely community located on the Ohio River bluffs nearly directly across the river from the Shell petrochemical plant. Beaver boasts a large National Register of Historic Places historic district (PA-SHARE Resource #1994RE00048) that consists of large, stately homes, vernacular residences, a thriving central business district bursting with historic character and a series of open spaces and parks that date to the community’s late 18th century plan. Beaver is home to the National Historic Landmark Matthew S. Quay House (PA-SHARE Resource #1975RE00155) and the site of Ft. McIntosh, a late 18th century American frontier fort, which is individually listed in the National Register (PA-SHARE Resource #1975RE00024).

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Designing for Distance in Pennsylvania’s Historic Communities

To say that COVID-19 changed things about away we live our lives would be the understatement of the century. Virtually everything about the ways in which we live, work, learn, recreate, shop – everything – changed in an instant and we have spent the last 12+ months learning how to adapt, as individuals and communities. The pandemic has also prompted a lot of pondering and forecasting about the long term effects on our society and how many of these adaptations will become part of our “normal” lives going forward. In Pennsylvania’s traditional communities, the sudden loss of foot traffic, festivals, and events hit small businesses and restaurants especially hard. Revitalization organizations and local governments have had to reimagine, with little or no time or experience, how to allow people to use streets, sidewalks, parks, and trails in a safe and responsible manner. Enter Designing for Distance.

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Support Preservation in Pennsylvania by being counted in the 2020 Census

No doubt about it – there is a lot going on this year. I don’t need to elaborate here about the many ways each and every one of us have had our lives turned around, upside down, or inside out over the last six months. Even the idea of just one more thing to do can topple us over like losing game of Jenga.

But this one more thing matters. A lot. It’s making sure to complete your 2020 census form – and encouraging your family, friends, and neighbors to do the same.

Why? Pennsylvania’s share of federal historic preservation funding is based, in part, on how many people live in the Commonwealth. If that population count is low because all Pennsylvanians aren’t counted, then there is less federal money for the commonwealth to preserve the older and historic places that matter to you and your community.

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