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Paved path through cemetery with grass, trees, and stone markers of various shapes and sizes. — Path through Harrisburg Cemetery, April 2021.

Exploring the Harrisburg Cemetery

April 14, 2021 / Elizabeth Rairigh / 9 Comments

Spring has sprung in Harrisburg! So when I was deciding what National Register resource to focus on for this week’s blog post, my office mate/dining room table neighbor/husband suggested we take a walk through Harrisburg Cemetery, listed in the National Register in 1985.

Colorized historic postcard showing wood church building. — Undated historic postcard of Grace Lutheran Church. From the collection of the Historic Franklin Preservation Association.

Preserving Pennsylvania’s Stick Style Architecture: Old Lutheran Church in Franklin

April 7, 2021 / Karen Arnold / 3 Comments

The mid-nineteenth century oil boom is synonymous with northern Venango County, which brought population and construction growth to the city of Franklin.

Approved Markers for 2021

March 31, 2021 / Karen Galle / 2 Comments

Soon fans of Pennsylvania’s historical markers will be braking for 23 new ones. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) recently approved the next batch of new historical markers at their March 2021 meeting.

Sancturary after rehabilitation, 2020. Photo by David B. Schneider, Schneider Historic Preservation, LLC.

Rehabilitating Wilkes-Barre’s Memorial Presbyterian Church

March 24, 2021 / smassey / 1 Comment

Rehabilitating a religious property, like a church, using historic tax credits can be very challenging because it is often difficult to match the building’s desired new use with the historic floor plan and character-defining spaces. Design professionals and building owners have to negotiate a difficult balance between preserving a church’s large, open sanctuaries with the need for income-producing spaces like apartments or multi-tenant office spaces.

The rehabilitation of Wilkes-Barre’s Memorial Presbyterian Church is a good example of how to apply the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, which are the guiding principles for historic tax credit projects, to church buildings.

Preservation’s March Madness

March 17, 2021 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 0 Comments

“March Madness” in the historic preservation world isn’t quite the same as the highly competitive, single-elimination college basketball tournaments that happen each March.

I’ve coopted the phrase to describe National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week and the days leading up to it in our office. Just like the NCAA I players that begin prepping and practicing weeks and months before their games, we kick off each New Year with making plans, preparing materials and partipants, and scheduling visits for Advocacy Week.

One big difference, of course, is that preservationists don’t compete against each other in a nail-biting, winner-takes-all game. One big similarlity, however, is the frenzy of activity, nerves, and excitement before the big event.

Artifacts recovered from (36FO0367) including biface (l), phallic object (c), and Meadowood point (r).

The 2020 PASS Report

March 10, 2021 / Noël Strattan / 0 Comments

For the past several years, PA SHPO archaeologists have issued an annual report – known as the PASS Report – detailing the ongoing efforts to record Pennsylvania’s archaeological sites.

Despite 2020’s many challenges, over 280 new archaeological sites were recorded thanks to cultural resource management (CRM) projects and continued contributions from independent research projects, members of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA), and long-time avocational archaeologists.

Mosaic panel detail with signature plaque (Ricketts 2018).

Virgil Cantini: Saving Cantini’s Mosaics

March 3, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 1 Comment

Last week’s blog post introduced the life and work of artist Virgil Cantini and highlighted the vulnerable position of postwar public art objects and installations, which often require special expertise to understand and articulate their significance for preservation.

This week’s post recounts part of the struggle to save one of Cantini’s largest works of public art, which came dangerously close to disappearing forever.

A technician works on-site at Cantini’s Mosaic Tunnel, 1964. Courtesy: Virgil Cantini Papers and Photographs, c1935-2009, MSS 0722, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center.

Virgil Cantini: A Purpose in Public Art

February 24, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 1 Comment

On a sunny August morning in 2017, a group of Pittsburgh-based architects, historians, artists, students, preservationists and art enthusiasts convened before venturing out with a shared goal; to experience first-hand nearly all public artworks accessible in the vicinity, both indoors and outdoors, created by the late Virgil Cantini (1919-2009).

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