New Guide to Historic Preservation in South Mountain Published!

We are pleased to announce a new resource for South Mountain supported by a SMP 2023 Mini-Grant! Shippensburg University just published the Preserving the Historic Places that Matter in the South Mountain Region A Practical Guide for Identifying, Documenting, Researching, Interpreting, and Protecting Historic Buildings and Landscapes in South Central Pennsylvania.

This project developed a survey to better understand how the public in the South Mountain region thinks about the topic of historic preservation, organized and conducted four free public workshops around Cumberland County to provide training about historic preservation methods, tools, and resources, and developed a free, publicly-available handbook specifically designed to assist individuals in the South Mountain region to identify, document, and preserve the historic places that matter to them in their communities.

PARTNERSHIP IS KEY

The planning, design, and execution of this project was a collaboration between the Shippensburg University Center for Land Use and Sustainability, Shippensburg University History Department, the Cumberland County Planning Department, the Cumberland County Historical Society, and the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office. Also, historic preservation consultant Christine Musser served on the project’s leadership team.

CHALLENGE

The South Mountain region is one of the fastest growing regions in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While that growth provides economic opportunity, it also can endanger the cultural and historic resources of the region. Those resources are important for helping to convey the rich history of the region. They also contribute to the region’s quality of life and provide Central Pennsylvanians with a unique sense of place. How might we help residents and local governments in the region to identify and preserve the places that matter the most to them, and especially tell the full story of their communities?

SOLUTION

This project sought to empower municipal officials and residents of the South Mountain region with the tools and strategies that they need to understand the economic and community value of the preservation of historic, cultural, and natural resources. The project began with a survey that helped the project partners to understand the perspectives and needs of local residents interested in historic preservation, and then the project partners developed a workshop series and an online handbook that could empower individuals and local government officials to take action to preserve the places that matter to them in their communities.

RESULTS

  • We developed and distributed an online survey via email and social media and received a remarkable 553 responses. The survey provided rich data about the public perceptions of historic preservation, places that matter to local residents, and historic preservation topics of greatest interest to people in the region.
  • We planned, organized, and delivered four face-to-face historic preservation workshops at four different locations across Cumberland County that addressed the historic preservation topics of greatest interest to survey respondents. All were recorded and the recordings are posted online for easy public access. A total of 169 people attended the four workshops—surpassing the project’s anticipated goal of 120 total participants.
  • We authored the free, online handbook: Preserving the Historic Places that Matter in the South Mountain Region: A Practical Guide for Identifying, Documenting, Researching, Interpreting, and Protecting Historic Buildings and Landscapes in South Central Pennsylvania. The book strives for an accessible, non-academic tone suitable for a public audience, and uses examples and notes resources in Cumberland County and the South Mountain region.

COMPANION VIDEOS

Below are the links to four historic sessions held as part of the “Empowering Communities to Preserve Historic Resources in the South Mountain Region Workshop Series” (April, June, September and October 2024) and three recorded presentations delivered as part of the “Untold Stories of the South Mountain Region Speaker Series” (Fall 2024)

You can find the guide linked above, or on our resources tab of our website.

This handbook was produced with financial assistance from Shippensburg University, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the South Mountain Partnership. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Community Conservation Partnership Program, Environmental Stewardship fund, under the administration of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation. The grant was awarded through the South Mountain Partnership, with management and oversight by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. We are a partner of the South Mountain Partnership, an alliance of organizations working to preserve and enhance the cultural and natural assets of the South Mountain Landscape in Central Pennsylvania. To learn more about the South Mountain Partnership, please visit www.southmountainpartnership.org.