It is time to highlight some of Pennsylvania’s recently listed historic properties! Since our last post ( Just Listed!) in May, 2016, 20 nominations have been approved by the National Park Service in the Commonwealth. Because several of these are districts, that means that over 1600 properties in the Commonwealth have been added to the National Register!
The George Christian and Anna Catherine Spangler Farm, in Limestowne Township, Union County, was nominated under the Historic Agricultural Resources of Pennsylvania, c1700-1960 Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF). Significant under Criterion A, for agriculture, the farm includes an impressive 111 acres. The main house is constructed of locally sourced fieldstone with 2 foot thick exterior walls. The diversity of outbuildings on the property are indicative of its highly diversified production, and includes a pigpen, corn crib, milk house/ice house, bank barn, and granary.
The George Christian and Anna Catherine Spangler Farm in Union County was listed in August 2016. Photograph by David Maher, PA SHPO National Register reviewer, April 2016.
The Tacony Disston Community Development Historic District, in Philadelphia, includes 55 city blocks and over 1000 contributing buildings. Like the Spangler Farm, the district is significant under Criterion A – but under Community Planning and Development and Social History. The community developed as a result of the Disston family’s company, Keystone Saw. Located along the Delaware River waterfront, this “town within a city” retained a unique identify apart from its surroundings from its initial construction in the 1870s through the end of World War I.
According to the nomination, “the Tacony Disston development was built to serve one of the largest complexes in the city in an age when Philadelphia’s economy was based on such heavy industry, yet it provided the Disston workers both with a sense of community and a measure of life in an elite suburb in its relatively low density, safe water supply, and other social and business amenities.” The community has retained its quasi suburban feel with detached and semi-detached houses with front and side yards, contrasting with the dense rowhomes with little open space just outside district’s boundary.
Looking north at 7000-7016 Hegerman Street in the Tacony Disston Historic District. Photograph by Emily T. Cooperman, November 2014, from the National Register nomination.
St. Thomas Memorial Church, located in Oakmont Borough, Allegheny County, was listed for significance under Criterion C for its architecture. The building is an example of the Late Gothic Revival style and has remained largely unchanged since its construction in 1897. The interior of the building includes an elaborate hammer-beam wood ceiling and marble flooring. Shortly after its construction, the local Pittsburgh Architectural Club included the building in an exhibition of significant local buildings. The complex includes not only the church, but original Parish Hall and Rectory as well – all of which have retained integrity and are important local landmarks in the community of Oakmont.
St. Thomas Memorial Church’s wood truss ceiling. Photograph by Lew Dexter, April 2015, from National Register nomination.
If you’d like to read these National Register nominations, or any of the ones below, check out our Cultural Resources GIS and search the database through the “Ask ReGIS” query tool. Under the “Additional Criteria” section, select “Historic Name” and enter the name of the nomination you’re interested in. If you have any problems, let us know!
2016 Listings
Tacony Disston Community Development Historic District
Roughly bounded by 4500-4900 blks. of Magee St., Princeton & Tyson Aves., 6900 blk. of Cottage St., Philadelphia
LISTED, 5/16/16
Carver Court
Foundry St. & Brooks Ln., Caln Township, Chester County
LISTED, 5/31/16
Times Finishing Works
1136-1148 N. American St., Philadelphia
LISTED, 7/05/16
George Christian and Anna Catherine Spangler Farm
1175 Wildwood, Mifflinburg, Union County
LISTED, 8/04/16
Perkasie Park Camp Meeting
200 S. 9th St., Perkasie, Bucks County
LISTED, 8/29/16
Progress Lighting Manufacturing Company
1401-1409 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia
LISTED, 8/29/16
Paupack School
545 PA 507, Palmyra Township, Pike County
LISTED, 8/29/16
St. Thomas Memorial Church
378 Delaware Ave., Oakmont Borough, Allegheny County
LISTED, 10/04/16
Harmony Mennonite Meetinghouse and Cemetery
114 Wise Rd., Jackson Township, Butler County
LISTED, 10/04/16
2017 Listings
Jacob and Juliana Middlekauff House
530 Flohrs Church Rd., Franklin Township, Adams County
LISTED, 1/17/2017
Reuben and Elizabeth Strassburger Farmstead
407 Keystone Dr., Sellersville, Bucks County
LISTED, 1/17/2017
Highland Park Camp Meeting
415 Highland Park Rd., Sellersville, Bucks County
LISTED, 4/10/2017
Llanerch Public School
5 Llandillo Rd., Haverford Township, Delaware County
LISTED, 4/10/2017 (Educational Resources of Pennsylvania MPS)
Marcus Hook Plank House
221 Market St., Marcus Hook, Delaware County
LISTED, 4/10/2017
Harry C. Kahn and Son Warehouse
3101-27 W. Glenwood Ave., Philadelphia
LISTED, 4/10/2017
Lackawanna Mills and Scranton Button Historic District
Bounded by Cedar & Remington Aves., Cherry & Brook Sts., Scranton, Lackawanna County
LISTED, 5/1/2017
Washington Memorial Chapel
N. side of PA 23, approx. 1.25 mi. W. of the jct. with County Line Rd., Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County
LISTED, 5/1/2017
Mecky Company Building
1705 W. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia
LISTED, 5/8/2017
Experimental and Safety Research Coal Mines
Cochran Mill Rd., South Park Township, Allegheny County
LISTED, 6/26/2017
Mine Roof Simulator, NIOSH, Bruceton Research Center
Cochran Mill Rd., South Park Township, Allegheny County
LISTED, 6/26/2017
Do you own or steward an important historic property in your community? Contact the National Register staff at the SHPO to see if your building is eligible for listing in the National Register, and your community’s landmarks could be featured in a future Just Listed! column.
Still have many Disstons saws in the garage!