Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: Survey (Page 5 of 6)

Lykens: A Case Study on the After-Effects of Flooding on Pennsylvania’s Communities

August 28, 2019 / / 11 Comments

In the last installment about the ongoing Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative we focused on survey work in the City of Harrisburg. Since that time, the survey teams led by Commonwealth Heritage Group and ASC Group have moved on to other communities in Dauphin County.

Located at the northern end of the county, Lykens Borough is home to a large number of properties that are both over 45 years old and located in the 100-year floodplain. The survey teams spent more than a week collecting flood elevation data on 227 buildings throughout the borough. While there, we met many residents who talked about Tropical Storm Agnes and how flooding from the storm changed the community in profound and lasting ways.

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Green Book cover
Cover from the 1956 Green Book from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "The Negro Travelers' Green Book: Fall 1956"New York Public Library Digital Collections.Accessed February 1, 2019. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/9c454830-83b9-0132-d56a-58d385a7b928.

Offbeat Outing: The Green Book in Philadelphia

February 6, 2019 / / 5 Comments

Some of my colleagues are known to check their Facebook accounts while they drink their morning coffee, and on more than one occasion that has resulted in a Facebook message or email with the subject line “I have a great idea…” One of these great ideas led to one of the more interesting, informative, and eye-opening surveys I’ve done – Green Book locations in Philadelphia. Continue reading

Vintage postcard with hashtag
Greetings from Pennsylvania - where #preservationhappenshere every day!

Add this to your summer reading list! #preservationhappenshere – PA’s Statewide Preservation Plan – is ready for you

May 31, 2018 / / 4 Comments

Picture yourself – lounging poolside, lakeside, or on the beach – with your tablet or smart phone (or even good old-fashioned paper) enjoying the hottest summer publication that hasn’t yet made the New York Times bestseller list: #preservationhappenshere, Pennsylvania’s next statewide historic preservation plan. Continue reading

Small one-story stone building
Cameron County, Portage Twp, Hemlock Rd.; CCC Public Toilets, 905034.0003, Phase 1 photo by AECOM.

Hazard Mitigation in a Historic Context: Wrapping up the Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative

May 23, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Hazard Mitigation in a Historic Context – Wrapping up the Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative

Three years ago, the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) announced that we were embarking on a new initiative to, for the first time in this office’s history, address the risks posed to historic properties by natural hazards, storms, and disasters. Continue reading

Log dwelling in East St. Clair Township, June 24, 2016. Photo provided by AECOM, Kaitlin Pluskota, photographer.

Surveying Rural PA: Update on the Disaster Planning Initiative

September 21, 2016 / / 1 Comment

Bedford and Cameron Counties are the latest counties to be surveyed as part of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office’s (PASHPO) Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative, following up on the surveys done in Monroe County and the City of Philadelphia by AECOM Technical Services.

Architectural historians from AECOM canvassed the two counties to catalog historic resources over 45 years of age within 100- and 500-year flood hazard areas. Each county presented a remarkable variety of historic structures, from the Bedford Springs Resort — a National Historic Landmark in Bedford County – to Civilian Conservation Corps structures in Cameron County’s Sizerville State Park.

AECOM sought to locate and document significant historic resources from vernacular to high-style in design, and ranging from Colonial-era to mid-century modern in period, in order to thoroughly identify flood-prone historic resources in the two counties. Continue reading

Brighton Street, Philadelphia. Photo by Ben Buckley from AECOM Technical Services, Inc. April 5, 2016

Community Landmarks in the City of Neighborhoods

May 18, 2016 / / 1 Comment

By Samantha Kuntz

Philadelphia has managed to accrue some significant historic resources over the past, oh, 300 years or so. It is home to no fewer than 550 resources (including districts) listed on National Register of Historic Places, and it holds over 11,087 resources (including districts) on the local Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.  Philadelphia possesses relics of our nascent nation (the U.S. Constitution, the Liberty Bell), contains a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Independence Hall), and boasts an impressive new heritage association (full membership in the Organization of World Heritage Cities).

In other words, there must be something in the (Schuylkill and Delaware) water here.

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Disaster Planning for Historic Properties in a World Heritage City

March 9, 2016 / / 2 Comments

by Emily Paulus Everett, AECOM Technical Services

On November 6, 2015, the City of Philadelphia became the first United States city to join the Organization of World Heritage Cities – a prestigious designation that recognizes, among other things, its vast and significant collection of well-preserved historic resources. That same week, representatives from the PA SHPO, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, and AECOM Technical Services, Inc. gathered in Center City, Philadelphia to kick off Phase 1 of a two-phase effort to protect those historic resources before, during, and in the aftermath of, future flooding events.  As part of the PA SHPO’s Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative, Philadelphia County joins Monroe, Bedford, and Cameron as one of four pilot counties to take into account the impact of future flooding events on historic properties.   Continue reading

Sloan’s used his ‘Philadelphia Plan’ for the Fayette School, built in 1855. This picture shows the school in the late 19th century before the large 1915 addition by the school district. Source: http://hiddencityphila.org/2012/08/its-been-a-bad-year-for-you-samuel-sloan/

Making the Grade: The Architecture of Philadelphia’s Public Schools, Part 1

February 18, 2015 / / 4 Comments

The architectural historian in me is fascinated by the threads of science, theory, and symbolism that go into designing and building schools.  Like most preservationists, I am a strong believer that the power of place plays a central role in shaping our experiences, attitudes, and values.  The tangible aspects of a school’s ‘power of place’ include its architectural style, materials, dimensions, and floor plan.  Taken together, these character-defining features often reflect a community’s wealth, prominence, and aspirations for their children.  In Philadelphia, schools from the mid-19th century to pre-World War II period fit into this category, regardless of their location in large or small, rich or poor neighborhoods.  After World War II, the character of many of Philadelphia’s public schools shifted, and the school buildings communicate a rigid, institutional personality that is markedly different from the schools only a few decades older. Continue reading

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