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Conservancy Highlights Historic Preservation in 2007
The year 2007 was a very successful one for historic preservation at Heritage Conservancy!
During this past year, Heritage Conservancy staff worked with several townships and preservation organizations on numerous projects of national and regional importance, including applications for the Langhorne Manor School in Langhorne Borough and Springhouse Farm in Springfield Township, Bucks County, to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other significant projects were the completion of a township-wide historic resources survey for West Rockhill Township, Bucks County, and beginning the process of preparing a National Register nomination for the Montrose Historic District in Susquehanna County.
Langhorne Manor School
Langhorne Manor School
Langhorne Manor School, currently the Borough Hall, was documented by Heritage Conservancy and submitted to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) for a determination of National Register eligibility. In a letter dated February 5, 2007, the PHMC determined that the building is locally significant as an excellent example of a Queen Anne style one-room school house.
Heritage Conservancy then completed a National Register nomination form and now the building is on its way to being listed as a nationally recognized historic site. PHMC's Historic Preservation Board will meet in March of 2008 and vote to send the nomination for the school on to the National Park Service in Washington DC for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Langhorne Manor School was built in 1891 to serve the school age children in the elite community of Langhorne Manor. The Queen Anne style of the building is evidenced by the eyelid dormers, fish scale roof shingles, hipped roof with finials, its variety of windows and asymmetrical window arrangement.
Springhouse Farm
Springhouse Farm
Springhouse Farm, the Bucks County home of noted writer Eric Knight, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 2007. Heritage Conservancy staff prepared and sent the National Register nomination to the National Park Service in June 2007 after PHMC's Historic Preservation Board determined Springhouse Farm nationally significant for its association with Eric Knight.
Eric Knight was a prominent film critic, screen writer, and author, primarily noted for writing the world renowned book Lassie Come Home. He also wrote The Flying Yorkshireman, and This Above All. He wrote You Play the Black the Red Comes Up under the pseudonym Richard Hallas and worked with Frank Capra on the Why We Fight series of World War II propaganda films. Knight lived at the farm from 1939 until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1943. In 1940, Eric Knight sold all the non-book rights to Lassie Come Home to MGM Studios. In 1943, the very popular movie was released starring Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester, Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor.
Toots burial site on Springhouse Farm
Knight's lesser known work, This Above All, was a story set in Britain about the relationship between an army deserter and a nurse during World War II. A 1942 movie based on the book starred Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine. With the money from the sale of the screen rights, the Knights built the small addition that is on the north gable end of the farmhouse, installed central heating in the house and purchased a Nash convertible.
Jere Knight, Eric's wife, was an active member of Heritage Conservancy's Historic Preservation Board for many years. The Knight's dog Toots inspired Eric to write Lassie Come Home, and when the dog died of old age on the farm in 1945, Jere buried her on the hillside overlooking the farm and later marked her grave with a concrete collie statue.
A gravestone in the cemetery of the New Jerusalem Church
West Rockhill Historic Resources Survey
In July of 2007 Heritage Conservancy was hired by West Rockhill Township to survey all properties in West Rockhill Township that are 100 years old or older. This was for purposes of creating an inventory of historic resources for the township and the West Rockhill Historical Society. In order to locate properties 100 years old or older, a previous survey of historic resources conducted by Heritage Conservancy in 1991 and 1992, the 1891 Bucks County Atlas map, and Bucks County Board of Assessment data were used. Additional resources estimated to be 100 years old or older were documented during a field survey. The survey also included historic transportation systems, bridges and cemeteries in addition to dwellings.
The Jacob and Mary Haring House
(listed on Heritage Conservancy's Register of Historic Places)
Background historic research on West Rockhill Township was also conducted. The history of West Rockhill Township was researched through various sources primarily using existing published histories of the township. A review of properties already designated historic at the local, state and national level was also conducted by reviewing the PHMC's database of National Register listed and eligible properties and Heritage Conservancy's Register of Historic Places.
The main component of the process was an extensive field survey during which data such as architectural style, construction materials, estimated date of construction were gathered. Photos of each property accompany a survey card listing all pertinent property information including a ranking of the resource. The ranking was based on the opinion of conservancy staff and related to the historic and architectural integrity of the resource--1 being the highest priority for preservation and potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
The distribution of properties by rank as shown above indicates 56 properties that have a ranking of "1". These retain the highest degree of historic integrity and are the highest priority for historic preservation. In addition, 56 were found to rank "2" meaning they appear to have lost some historic integrity, but have some potential for historic designation. The majority of the properties (129) were found to have a rank of "3" meaning they have considerable alteration. Thirty-three (33) of the properties in the survey were found to rank "4" meaning severe alteration has occurred and potential for listing to a register of historic places is minimal and 7 properties were ranked "5" meaning that they have been altered beyond recognition as a historic resource.
One of the churches in Ridge Valley
In the addition to the evaluation and ranking of single properties, the scenic village of Ridge Valley was determined to be potentially eligible for listing to the National Register as a historic district. It encompasses two architecturally significant churches and maintains its overall historic setting.
Montrose Historic District
Near the end of 2007 Heritage Conservancy competed for and was awarded the task of completing a National Register nomination for the Montrose Historic District. Montrose is a small borough in Susquehanna County nestled in the Endless Mountains in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. The Endless Mountains Heritage Region, a State Heritage Park organized around an agricultural theme encompassing Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna Historical Society hired Heritage Conservancy to complete a National Register Nomination for the district.
Public Avenue and the Courthouse in Montrose, PA
Montrose was originally settled by migrants from the eastern end of Long Island, New York, in the late 18th century. Eastern Long Island was then part of Connecticut, as was the northern tier of Pennsylvania. In order to make a substantial claim of this part of Pennsylvania for Connecticut the Susquehanna Company was formed to encourage settlers to travel there and establish new communities. Bartlett Hinds, from Shelter Island, LI, and members of the Post family from Southampton, LI, started the small village that grew into the Borough of Montrose. The impact of these settlers can be found in the form of a typical New England settlement with a town common that includes a Greek Revival style court house constructed in 1855.
Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is fortunate to have a strong agrarian history. Integral to the story of the state's flourishing fertile fields that were cleared and cultivated for many centuries and remain productive to this day is the role the sturdy barns played in the settling and use of our farmland. By the mid-nineteenth century the "Pennsylvania Barn" was hailed as the model type of barn.
Many types of Pennsylvania barns can be found across the Commonwealth, ranging from stone and log barns to immense, later-built frame examples. A familiar silhouette on any farm's horizon here in Pennsylvania, barn architecture that is exhibited on individual farmsteads is as varied as the heritage of the brave and resilient farmers who settled the diverse regions of our Commonwealth's early frontier. The timbers and stones taken from the cleared land and their hard labor created long-standing storage buildings that provided a safe haven for harvested crops and hungry livestock with each generation.
Today, many of these symbols of our agrarian past are being threatened by demolition and neglect. Present day agriculture has also changed the face of the farmstead, with steel and aluminum replacing stone and lumber as the materials of convenience for today's farm buildings. Too often the weather-worn historic barns are razed to make way for these twenty-first century pre-fabricated buildings and part of our heritage is lost forever. In order to help preserve these rapidly disappearing rural icons, a group of concerned individuals including Conservancy staff has formed a statewide barn preservation organization.
The Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania will be co-hosting the National Barn Alliance Annual Meeting and Conference in Berks County on June 5 to 7th. The three-day event will focus on historic barns and the people who tell their stories. In 2007, Heritage Conservancy agreed to be the non-profit host organization for the new statewide preservation organization until it can achieve its own non-profit status.
Other Projects
The projects highlighted here are just a sample of Heritage Conservancy's historic preservation work. Heritage Conservancy provides historic preservation services that include National Register nominations, house histories and architectural analysis. In addition, we conduct historic resource surveys as well as write historic preservation plans and historic preservation ordinances. We also assist developers and government agencies with federal, state and local historic preservation regulation compliance.
Heritage Conservancy established a register of historic places in 1975 to identify and promote public awareness of historically or architecturally significant buildings meriting recognition. The Heritage Conservancy historical review board meets quarterly to consider applications from across the region for inclusion on the register. The application requires historic research, a brief architectural description and photographs of the buildings on the property.
Heritage Conservancy Register plaque
To date, over 675 houses, barns, bridges, mills, schoolhouses, ruins, and industrial buildings have been listed on the Heritage Conservancy Register of Historic Places. These resources qualify to display the Heritage Conservancy historic plaque, a visible statement of the legacy these historic places represent.
Listing on the Heritage Conservancy historic register does not impinge upon the rights of ownership of a property nor does it limit the rights of the owner in the maintenance, modification, or sale of his property. A structure's continuation on a register will, however, depend upon its maintaining historical or architectural integrity.
For additional information contact David Kimmerly, Historic Preservation Specialist, dkimmerly@heritageconservancy.org (215) 345-7020, ext. 109.
