Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office
We’ve written quite a bit about PA SHPO’s Baseline Survey initiative over the last three years. We’ll be sharing even more in 2024 when we publish our Year 3 results but – spoiler alert! – I can say that we will have added over 16,000 NEW resources in 55 counties to PA-SHARE by the time this initial effort is completed.
Tucked away in quiet North Philadelphia neighborhood is the former Peter Woll & Sons factory, now the Paper Lofts. Historic tax credits – both federal and state – gave the property it’s third lease on life.
Any Pennsylvanian at heart has a list of places in the Keystone State that captures the essence of who we are.
In 2017, PennDOT, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the PA SHPO, published the Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan (Management Plan). This plan, designed to serve as an ongoing planning tool, was the result of a multi-year effort to address the accelerating loss of historic metal truss bridges throughout the state. Now, roughly six years after the publication of the official document, PennDOT would like to provide an update.
Earlier this year, the PA State Historic Preservation Office started working on new upgrades and improvements to PA-SHARE. We’re calling this effort PA-SHARE 2.0.
Happy Archaeology Month!
One of the most common objects shown to archaeologists for identification are rocks. Most of the time, these objects just end up being rocks, but sometimes people do find one that has been altered in some way by human hands. These artifacts are called lithics and they can be found all over the United States and throughout the rest of the world.
Are you interested in joining a proactive and dedicated team of historic preservationists, historians, archaeologists, and planners? The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking a Historic Preservation Specialist with a discipline in architectural history or history within the Environmental Review Division.
Exciting news! It is time to update Pennsylvania’s statewide historic preservation plan.
What better way to kick off that effort than with a new survey?!
I’m happy to introduce you to our newest PA SHPO staffers! We are very excited to have Kristen Walczesky join us as an Environmental Review archaeologist in late 2022 and Marissa Barret as a National Register reviewer and John Wood as the Preservation Incentives manager this year.
“I can’t wait to get on the road again/On the road again/Goin’ places that I’ve never been/Seein’ things that I may never see again/And I can’t wait to get on the road again…”
-Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again,” 1980
With Pennsylvania’s long transportation history – from railroads and canals to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the many beautiful bridges throughout the Commonwealth – it’s no surprise that the teams working on the Baseline Survey Project discovered and inventoried a multitude of Pennsylvania’s previously unrecorded roadside resources!
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