Leadership in Preserving Pennsylvania's Historic and Cultural Resources
On behalf of PHMC, Jean Cutler, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer (center) received a Preserve America Award from First Lady Laura Bush and the Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, at a ceremony on July 12, 2007
Leadership in developing strategies to support the identification and documentation of important historic resources in the commonwealth continues to be a priority of the Bureau for Historic Preservation. Pennsylvania's Historic Preservation Plan identifies three goals central to preserving, interpreting, reusing, enjoying and learning from the commonwealth's historic and cultural resources:
Recognize, sustain and support historic resources as viable components of local community environments.
Secure stable public policy and funding to support all levels of preservation of historic and cultural resources.
Celebrate preservation accomplishments through recognition, leadership, stewardship and outreach.
Critical to the success of these progressive and visionary strategies is the ownership of these goals and objectives by Pennsylvania's communities, the citizens who reside here and the organizations that support them. This bureau provides leadership by offering practical resources and technical assistance to those who value and appreciate the enduring value of the commonwealth's heritage assets.
Selected highlights of the bureau's historic preservation leadership efforts in 2006-2007 include:
State Historic Preservation Office
The State Historic Preservation Office advises and assists federal and state agencies and local governments in carrying out their historic preservation responsibilities to ensure that historic properties are taken into consideration at all levels of planning and development. In fiscal year 2006-2007, the office responded to 6,294 submissions for review of projects. This number represents 4,618 separate projects, 3,309 of which were new from 57 separate agency programs. About 58% of the projects were from federal agencies, 32% from state agencies and .2% from local governments. Nearly 6% were related to coal mining, 69% involved archaeology and more than 90% included historic structures. Nearly 62% of projects reviewed had no impact or adverse effect on historic or prehistoric resources.
The National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers presented an Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation to PHMC for its exemplary leadership role in creating and implementing "Educate Yourself About Preservation: Preserving Pennsylvania's Historic Schools." This collaborative public program developed educational resources to encourage the preservation and continued use of historic school buildings and resulted in the publication of Renovate or Replace? The Case for Restoring and Reusing Older School Buildings.
In addition to a narrative history, the Agricultural History Project provides a field guide for farm buildings, federal and state agricultural census manuscripts, and bibliographies to help researchers document historic farms. An oral history component introduced at the 2007 Farm Show captures the voices of Pennsylvania's farmers to illuminate the last half-century of dramatic changes in the commonwealth's most important industry.
Historic Districts and Preservation
The criteria for identifying local historic districts was redefined under Pennsylvania’s 1961 state historic district legislation, Act 167, which authorizes municipalities to identify and regulate local districts under a Historic Architecture Review Board. The new criteria clarifies the eligibility requirements for local districts and provides municipalities greater flexibility in identifying and protecting locally important historic resources.
Community decision making for evaluating historic resources and determining eligibility for state historic district designation has been made easier with the recently revised and published Historic District Designation in Pennsylvania. Authored by Michel R. Lefevre, the publication is a valuable tool for planners, municipal officials, individuals and organizations interested in historic preservation and the public. Pennsylvania currently has 90 local HARBs overseeing 112 historic districts. (A copy of this publication can be obtained by downloading it from the PHMC's Web site, Historic District Designation in Pennsylvania (PDF, 2.3 MB).)
Pennsylvania continues to be a leader in the use of federal tax credits for the rehabilitation of commercial buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, ranking fourth in the nation among states that successfully use federal tax credits to encourage investors to rehabilitate historic buildings. Pennsylvania had 41 completed projects with certified expenses of nearly $238 million. Since the inception of the federal Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit (RITC) program in 1976, Pennsylvania has been a national leader in these projects that have generated more than $3.3 billion in private reinvestment in Pennsylvania communities.
Above, author Michel R. Lefevre, PHMC preservation services planner.
Using both the Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit and the Low Income Tax Credit programs, Historic Fairmount Associates L.P., comprised of York YMCA Community Development Corporation and the Housing Development Corporation of Lancaster, developed a program to renovate 15 turn-of-the-century residential buildings on the 300 and 400 blocks of North Beaver Street in York. This award-winning $4-million project provided 38 new residential rental units, a community building, property maintenance building and a laundromat. The completed rehabilitation of these 15 buildings preserves the Fairmount neighborhood's unique historic character while providing newly renovated and energy-efficient residential units.
The Cumberland County Planning Commission in Carlisle received a Historic Preservation grant to update the History and Historic Preservation Plan chapters of the county's comprehensive plan to be consistent with the Municipalities Planning Code and the guidelines recently developed by the PHMC. The project will update the developmental history and map historic resources not currently included in the comprehensive plan, assess the threats to these important historic resources and recommend strategies to protect them.
State Historical Markers
In 2006, the PHMC installed two state historical markers for the Molly Maguire executions in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, and Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk at the time), Carbon County, sites of the hangings of ten members of the secret society alleged to have terrorized mine superintendents in the 19th century. The markers explain the unrest between mine workers and coal industry executives in the late 19th century. The Pennsylvania Labor History Society co-sponsored the installation of these markers as part of its annual conference.
The launching of the commercial computer age was commemorated in Philadelphia with the installation of a historical marker in 2006 entitled "Commercial Digital Computer Birthplace." After erecting a marker in 2000 for ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), the first all-purpose digital computer, the PHMC deemed it appropriate to mark BINAC (Binary Automatic Computer) and UNIVAC I ((Universal Automatic Computer I), the commercial successors of this pioneering invention. Several original employees of the Eckert-Mauchley Computer Corporation, developer of these computers, attended the marker unveiling.
During the dedication of one of two historical markers about the Molly Maguire executions, Kenneth C. Wolensky, PHMC historian, speaks on the importance of these dedications.
National Register of Historic Places
The Troy Area Senior High School in Troy, Bradford County, a 1924 Colonial Revival-style school building erected in 1924, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. A PHMC Keystone grant funded the restoration of 220 windows in an extensive restoration of the school. The project is an excellent example of a school district preserving a historic school building in a neighborhood setting as promoted by PHMC's historic school initiative project and Renovate or Replace? The Case for Restoring and Reusing Older School Buildings.
Pennsylvania Archaeology: A Leader of Discovery
The PHMC 2007 annual theme, "Uncovering Links to our Past," showcased a number of the commission's archaeology programs: a comprehensive Web site, "Discover Pennsylvania Archaeology"; a new DVD, "Introduction to The State Museum Archaeology Galleries"; Project Archaeology curriculum for teachers; and a video introduction to archaeology in the State Museum's archaeology galleries. In May 2007, the Commonwealth Archaeology Program (CAP) hosted field school of Temple University anthropology students at a site in Lancaster County, featured in the fall 2007 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage.
Fort Hunter
In September 2006, CAP investigated one of "history's mysteries": where is the "fort" at Fort Hunter? CAP conducted an archaeological testing program during Archaeology Month at Fort Hunter Mansion and Park located north of Harrisburg. The goal was to locate the remains of the French and Indian War fort. There are no verifiable accounts that anything more than a blockhouse was actually built and the exact location of this structure has long been debated. The excavations yielded hundreds of 18th-century artifacts, many of them military in nature, along with a line of large post molds and possible evidence of a bake oven. It appears that some part of the fort has been discovered. More than 5,000 visitors witnessed the excavations and gained a better appreciation for Pennsylvania archaeology.
Historic Districts and Preservation 
