Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

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Color postcard of large brick building with landscaping in front.
Mid-20th century postcard of the Main Building at the Butler VA Hospital. Source: PA State Archives.

Caring for the Country’s Veterans: Pennsylvania’s Butler VA Hospital

November 9, 2022 / / 3 Comments

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is the steward of a large collection of medical facilities that reflect the evolving care for and needs of our military’s veterans. The VA’s health care system provides diverse care through approximately 170 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics across the country, serving millions of veterans each year. Pennsylvania is home to a wide range of federal facilities offering medical services for veterans.

Western Pennsylvania’s Butler Veterans Administration Hospital recently joined two other current VA hospital properties in Pennsylvania listed in the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its important and unique role in caring for military veterans.

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Be a Part of Discovering and Celebrating the Humanities in Pennsylvania

November 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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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Metal truss bridge over water and surrounded by trees.
Cons Road Bridge in Franklin Township, Bradford County. Photograph by Veronica Martin.

A New Funding Source for Metal Truss Bridges

October 26, 2022 / / 1 Comment

If you have been following the PA SHPO Blog, then you have probably read about the Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan (Management Plan) and the ongoing effort by PennDOT and the PA SHPO to preserve historic metal truss bridges whenever feasible. Recently, as of 2021, a new federally funded program has been created to support the rehabilitation of these bridges.

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Group of nine people standing in a cemetery.
Meeting at Midland Cemetery, August 2022. From left to right (Dr. Steve Burg (PAHG, Shippensburg University), Erin Emerick (Shippensburg University), Sarah Hoffeditz (Shippensburg University), Ira Beckerman (PAC), Dr. Ben Ford (Indiana University of PA), Barbara Barksdale, Janet Johnson (State Museum), Kim Sebestyen (State Museum), Taylor Napoleon (PA SHPO).

Community Archaeology at Midland Cemetery

October 19, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Last fall the State Museum of Pennsylvania hosted their annual workshop in archaeology entitled Hidden Stories: Uncovering African American History through Archaeology and Community Engagement. The theme was born out of the acknowledgement that African Americans are vastly underrepresented in the historic record and the representations that are present are typically unfairly biased.

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

October 12, 2022 / / 3 Comments

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.

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Man standing outside next to a machine removing soil.
The Paleo-Digger. Here, the auger, is being lowered into the test unit. Photograph by Barry Fritz, Quemahoning Cultural Resource Management Services.

Meet the Paleo-Digger

October 5, 2022 / / 1 Comment

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.

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Stone building with large round sign that reads "Broad Street Market Harrisburg".
Second building of the Broad Street Market.

See a cool building? Tell us about it with PA-SHARE!

September 28, 2022 / / 1 Comment

Good morning fellow Pennsylvanians, regular visitors, and honored guests! In your travels throughout our beautiful Commonwealth, have you stumbled across a building so magnificent you had no alternative but to document it thoroughly? Did your engine die while driving past a spooky and ominously quiet old cemetery and the only way to pass the time waiting for a tow truck was to photograph the unsettling landscape? Have you been searching for someone to share your discoveries with? Then let me introduce you to the Inventory Form!

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Two people in a field in front of a barn holding a large metal sign.
Martin A. Shipe, Jr., past Historian of the New Jersey Sons of American Revolution, returning the Commodore John Barry marker in August 2022.

Report Missing & Damaged Markers!

September 21, 2022 / / 4 Comments

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s State Historical Markers are cherished and celebrated icons across the state, and for good reason! Every community takes pride in their history and how that history has affected the Commonwealth and the nation.

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Line drawing with lines connecting circles on a map of Pennsylvania.
This map shows the lines of connections southeastern Pennsylvania, including safe houses, station masters and UGRR conductors. Wilbert Seibert included this map, which is based on Robert Smedley's 1883 book, in his 1898 The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom.

The Underground Railroad in Columbia, Lancaster County

September 14, 2022 / / 1 Comment

September is International Underground Railroad Month. September was chosen because it is the month that two of the most well-known people associated with the Underground Railroad –  Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass – escaped from slavery.  Today’s post was written by guest author Dr. Leroy Hopkins and he provides a glimpse into the Underground Railroad in Columbia, Pennsylvania.

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