There are many ways in which we contribute to our communities, and if you are reading this blog, I have a hunch that you are interested in recognizing, protecting, and celebrating historic places in your community. If I guessed correctly, please read on to learn about one easy task you can do the week of April 20-26, which happens to be National Volunteer Week, to identify historic places in your area.
Pennsylvania has a treasure trove of historic places and stories waiting to be discovered. Documenting underrepresented geographies and themes were primary goals of PA SHPO’s Baseline Survey.
After 3+ years of capturing baseline survey data, 20,851 new records were added to Pennsylvania’s Inventory of Historic Places in PA-SHARE. Following the completion of field survey, our consultant partners also identified 1,500+ places recommended for additional documentation and research.
All recommendations are worth pursuing to inform future proactive survey efforts undertaken by PA SHPO and our partners. The consultant recommendations inspire a historic property scavenger hunt of sorts!
Mount Carbon Borough in Schuylkill County was an active transportation hub in the early 19th century. This local landmark occupies a prominent location along Main Street and was built in 1820 for the chief engineer of the Schuylkill Navigation Co., Thomas Oakes. The stately Federal stone house displays many hallmarks of the style including the elliptical fan light over the paneled front door and its symmetrical form. Baseline Survey recommendations suggest exploring the feasibility of potential historic districts in Mount Carbon as well as in three additional Schuylkill County communities.
Recommendations
Nine consultant teams completed Baseline Survey contracts across Pennsylvania, and therefore recommendations were not consistently reported. For example, contractors may have identified geographic areas recommended for additional identification-level/baseline survey by only the municipality name, while others specified unique locations, property names, or provided an address.
Similar property types that may appear ubiquitous along a stretch of roadway were common recommendations for additional baseline survey, such as “historic-era lakeside communities” and “mid-20th century residential on Pittsburgh Rd.” Clues presented in the recommendations could be used to plan a leisurely Sunday drive.
The G.S. Putney & Sons Store / Putneyville IOOF Hall in Mahoning Township, Armstrong County, was documented in 2022 during Baseline Survey. Thirteen (13) other places in Armstrong County were recommended for additional research or survey.
The number of recommendations for additional survey in each county also varied greatly. None to only a few recommendations were provided in some counties, while other counties had hundreds of recommendations.
An important lesson learned from this initiative is that historic property documentation in Pennsylvania is far from finished! Identifying and researching historic places in our communities can be an interactive and exciting way to learn about the layers of history that surround us every day.
Cable’s General Store in Union Dale Borough, Susquehanna County, was recorded in 2021. Another eleven+ (11) historic places were noted in Susquehanna County’s recommendations and are waiting to be discovered.
As each survey contract came to an end, the number of recommendations for additional survey continued to grow. Recommendations were gathered into four general types:
- Areas for future identification-level/baseline survey
- Resources/areas recommended for evaluation-level survey or further research
- Potential historic districts
- Potential archaeological sites, based on research and/or surficial archaeological evidence.
You can find the Baseline Survey recommendations, which are summarized and organized by county, here. Recommendations for further archaeological survey and residential properties that included specific addresses have been omitted.
Share A Place with Us!
Baseline Survey recommendations will inform PA SHPO’s future priorities for proactive survey and National Register documentation contracts, but we need your help to successfully advance the recommendations and learn more about historic places throughout the Commonwealth.
Here’s what you can do in 4 easy steps:
Visit this website to share information about a historic place that matters to you or place identified in a baseline survey recommendation.
Opening screen of the website to submit your information and suggestions.
Scroll through the screens to learn more about what we’d like to collect and why. Please note that we ask that archaeological sites are not submitted through the website to safeguard the location of those sites.
Some helpful information about what to submit.
At the “Make a Suggestion!” section, fill out the short form, locate your suggestion on the map, upload at least 1 photograph, and click submit. If you’re sharing information about a recommendation from baseline survey, please note that when completing the form. Remember, please don’t share archaeological sites.
Use this simple form for sending us your suggestions. Users can also click on the arrow in the upper right corner of the form (highlighted here in yellow) to open in a new tab.
Continue scrolling to see a map of all the places Pennsylvanians have suggested. This map will update in real time to show you what has been suggested.
Toward the bottom of the website is a map showing all of the places suggested by Pennsylvanians through the website.
It’s that easy to volunteer a few minutes to help document Pennsylvania’s historic places! Add as many places as you’d like and check back frequently to see the places Pennsylvanian’s have identified as important to their histories.
What will you share with us?
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Western Pennsylvania is under represented, and Beaver County is non-existant in the latest baseline survey. From the many rural villages and crossroads to the long forgotten home of the Harmony Society separatists who left for their town New Philadelphia on the Ohio, we need to speak up, and get them recognized. But we’re going to need help. The county in the past did a decent job of identifying, but that history position was ended years ago and now there is no comprehensive historic organization dedicated to the whole county and our historic structures and sites. The one that is supposed to just added “Landmarks” to their mission a couple years ago at my behest. Perhaps the PHMC or the consultants could help hold a summit where the localized societies and aficionados would divide and conquer identifying all our hidden gems?
I agree, Freedom PA has lost its historical sign about the shipbuilding (riverboats) on the Ohio river there and also a line of wonderful shipbuilders houses in the town. And so much more in the region!