Historic Districts in Pennsylvania: An Evolving Sense of Place

Broadway Street and Carbon County Courthouse, Old Mauch Chunk Historic District, Jim Thorpe, Carbon County.
Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, POCONOMOUNTAINS.COM

Jim Thorpe, originally named Mauch Chunk, is a small and picturesque borough of well-preserved 19th-century buildings perched on the side of a mountain along the Lehigh River in Carbon County. It once served as an important railroad and coal shipping center. As these industries waned in the 20th century, the town sought new economic purpose by marketing its scenic appeal as the “Switzerland of America.” In the 1950s the borough assumed a new name when local leaders, hoping to enhance tourism, agreed to make it the burial place of Native American star athlete Jim Thorpe.

Gettysburg, Adams County, was the setting of the pivotal battle of the Civil War, but it is also a charming county seat with an intact collection of 18th- and 19th-century buildings arranged around a central square, or diamond. It is home to Gettysburg College, founded in 1832, and the 1826 Gettysburg Seminary, the oldest continuous Lutheran theological school in the Americas.

New Hope, with its iconic turreted railroad station, is a small borough of infinite charm along the Delaware River in Bucks County. This historic village was once an artists’ colony and retains close ties to the art world through abundant galleries and the renowned Bucks County Playhouse, where so many of America’s greatest actors have performed. These three different Pennsylvania communities all have sought to preserve their unique identities and sense of place with “historic districts.”

Elfreth’s Alley National Historic Landmark, Old City Historic District, Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Historical Commission/Photo by Carol Ingald

The creation of historic districts in Pennsylvania is closely tied to the rise of the national historic preservation movement of the mid-20th century. At that time, historic neighborhoods faced rising threats from federally sponsored urban renewal programs and the expansion of the interstate highway system, which brought about waves of demolition to both urban and rural landscapes. The culture of post–World War II America itself, emphasizing cars, suburban growth and modern design, put traditional communities at risk. In response, the preservation movement gathered strength and broadened its focus, while communities established historic districts as a strategy to safeguard valued places.

Efforts to preserve historic neighborhoods, not just individual buildings and sites, occurred first at the local level in Pennsylvania, but were boosted significantly by the passage in 1966 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which marks its 50th anniversary this year (see “Before and After the Act: Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania,” Winter 2016). This law established a national policy regarding the identification and treatment of historic properties, defined as those eligible or listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The act also imposed regulations requiring federal agencies to consider the effect of their projects on historic properties and provided communities with a greater voice in the project planning process.

In the late 1950s a few Pennsylvania communities had taken independent action to establish municipal policies to designate and protect important historic properties and areas. Philadelphia took the lead by enacting a city ordinance in 1955 to create a commission to certify individual historic properties and regulate their alteration and demolition more than a decade before the federal NHPA and six years before the state adopted legislation for that purpose with the Historic District Act of 1961. This was not of course Philadelphia’s first effort to protect its past. Concerned neighbors and preservationists had formed the Elfreth’s Alley Association in 1934 to raise funds to purchase and restore neglected properties along the narrow cobblestone street made up of 32 Georgian and Federal houses dating from the 1720s to the 1830s. The association’s early intervention to save Elfreth’s Alley from disinvestment and demolition made possible the listing of all of its buildings in the city’s own historic register in 1956. When the construction of nearby Interstate 95 later threatened the neighborhood, it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960. It is also included in the Old City Historic District, which was nominated to the National Register in 1972. As a result of decades of preservation efforts, Elfreth’s Alley remains a vivid reminder of another time, exemplifying through the size, scale and design of the buildings – and the street itself – what life was like for the Colonial-era craftsmen who lived there.

New Hope Railroad Station, New Hope Historic District, Bucks County.
Visit Bucks County and New Hope & Ivyland Railroad

Philadelphia’s historic property ordinance of 1955 was groundbreaking in Pennsylvania, but it recognized only individual buildings, not neighborhoods. Pressure from historic district advocates led the city to amend the ordinance in 1985. Until that time, historic district status for Philadelphia’s neighborhoods was only available through the National Register. For that reason several of Philadelphia’s oldest neighborhoods were added to the National Register before being listed in the city’s own historic register, including Independence National Historic Park in 1966, the Society Hill Historic District in 1971 and the Southwark Historic District in 1972. These first neighborhoods were in some ways rather obvious choices, places of distinguished history and intact early architecture.

Also acting in advance of state and federal laws, Lititz Borough, Lancaster County, became in 1959 the first Pennsylvania community to identify a historic district and manage change within it by local ordinance. Named for a castle in Bohemia, Lititz was founded in the 1740s by Moravians who came to Pennsylvania to escape religious persecution. Proposed demolition of historic buildings in the heart of the borough motivated the community to take action. Lititz remains a well-preserved architectural gem, known for its array of boutiques, antique shops, cafés and brewpubs, as well as the tranquil beauty of Lititz Springs Park. It has the distinction of being the home of Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the nation. As a tribute to its appeal, Lititz was recently voted American’s coolest small town in a 2013 online survey.

First Moravian Store on East Main Street, Lititz Historic District, Lancaster County. Venture Lititz/Photo by Ron Reedy

The passage of NHPA in 1966 called for each state government to establish a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to inventory and evaluate historic properties, consult with federal agencies on the effects of projects, and to work with communities to preserve places important to their heritage. In the mid-20th century, Pennsylvania like all the other states faced a tremendous challenge because of the lack of adequate information about historic resources. How was Pennsylvania’s newly created SHPO to go about evaluating and managing an inventory of historic places and districts without reliable data on existing historic properties in the state’s 67 counties and myriad municipalities? In those early years funds were made available to interested counties and local partners to gather information about historic buildings. The focus of those early surveys was usually on individual properties rather than districts of related historically significant buildings. The data collected in those 1980s-era surveys remains in Pennsylvania’s SHPO files and is available online via the Cultural Resource Geographic Information System (CRGIS), but an updated and comprehensive statewide survey is much needed.

For nearly 50 years, however, Pennsylvania’s SHPO has been collecting and managing information about new historic districts from a variety of sources. In that time SHPO has evaluated thousands of potential historic districts throughout the state, using the standards and criteria of the National Register. As the preservation movement has grown and evolved since those early days, the understanding of what makes a community worthy of recognition as a historic district has changed as well.

Main Street, Wellsboro Historic District, Tioga County. Tioga County Development Corporation/Photo by Robert Blair

Community and preservation organizations, individuals, and local and federal agencies regularly provide Pennsylvania’s SHPO with new data on potential historic districts. Compliance with Section 106 of NHPA requires that federal agencies identify historic properties that could be impacted by federally funded or permitted projects and share that information with SHPOs. As a result of this law, many historic districts have been documented and evaluated for National Register eligibility by federal agencies and SHPOs as part of the environmental review process for projects.

Each year Pennsylvania’s SHPO reviews thousands of federal projects containing data on both new and previously identified historic properties. Large-scale projects like the expansion of highways produce a great deal of new historic property survey information and often include evaluations of new historic districts. Thus, through the collection of project-specific data, the Section 106 process has added greatly to SHPO’s knowledge of historic districts throughout the state. Many communities seek to further recognize and protect historic districts identified via the 106 process by pursuing National Register listing or local historic district ordinances. Beautiful Wellsboro, county seat of Tioga County, was first identified as a historic district in 1995 as part of a Federal Highways Administration project, and with community support was listed in the National Register in 2005. Old gas streetlights illuminate this classic downtown that includes an 1835 Federal-style courthouse, a public green, the 1869 Penn Wells Hotel, the 1921 Arcadia Theater and the 1938 barrel-roofed Wellsboro Diner. Located near the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, Wellsboro has long been a popular outdoor recreational tourist destination.

Old Trinity Place, Lancaster City Historic District. PHMC/State Historic Preservation Office/Photo by Jeremy Young

Incentives to create historic districts like the federal Historic Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit (RITC) program for income-producing properties have encouraged communities to identify and list historic districts in the National Register to spur needed redevelopment and private reinvestment. For that purpose some historic communities have adopted large or targeted historic district boundaries to attract rehabilitation and investment. Almost the entire city of Lancaster, the county seat of Lancaster County, is a listed historic district, which has encouraged the completion of numerous RITC projects there. As a result, historic tobacco warehouses, factories and downtown commercial buildings have been converted into apartments, event venues, shops, restaurants and offices. Dominating its town square is the lovely and ornate Renaissance Revival-style Watt & Shand building, a former department store that now serves as the front entrance to the Marriott Convention Center. Lancaster has a rich collection of both vernacular and high-style late 18th- and 19th-century commercial, residential and institutional properties. It is home to numerous historic churches, two outstanding historic farmers market buildings, the Fulton Opera House, President James Buchanan’s 1828 home Wheatland, the 1852 Roman Classical Revival-style county courthouse and the fortresslike 1851 county jail that resembles a medieval castle in Lancashire, England. Lancaster also offers a growing restaurant and boutique shopping district.

Developers seeking to take advantage of these financial incentives have initiated the identification of large single-themed historic districts like Philadelphia’s Brewerytown and Naval Shipyard districts, where numerous RITC projects have been completed. Historic districts offer developers increased opportunities to access the financial advantages of the RITC program, as each building need not be individually significant. Landmark historic buildings and more common houses in historic districts have been rehabilitated and put back into active use, representing millions of dollars of private reinvestment as a result. In Wilkes-Barre’s Victorian-era River Street Historic District, both the imposing Exotic Revival-style YMCA building and more modest Italianate houses have been preserved using RITC credits. Since the RITC program began in 1976, Pennsylvania has been a national leader, ranking among the top participating states in terms of the number and value of projects completed. In 2012 Pennsylvania began to offer state historic rehabilitation tax credits, so inclusion in a National Register-listed historic district now provides even greater financial incentives to redevelopers.

Centre Square, Easton Historic District, Northampton County. Greater Easton Development Partnership/Photo by Amy Boccadoro

Progressive, preservation-savvy communities have taken the initiative to recognize and protect their historic districts for reasons extending beyond participation in rehabilitation tax incentives. Many community leaders have seen that intact and well-maintained historic districts are important assets that offer excellent opportunities for increased tourism and enhanced property values. Jim Thorpe, Gettysburg and New Hope, mentioned earlier, are all places that have utilized historic district management as a means to enhance their appeal to visitors and maintain desirable residential neighborhoods as well.

Lincoln Square, Gettysburg Historic District, Adams County. Destination Gettysburg

The best-protected historic districts are those that are governed by local zoning regulations requiring historic architectural review boards (HARBs) to assess proposed changes within the district boundaries. Local historic districts allow communities to take control of their greatest asset – their own unique physical identity. Currently, 158 municipalities have adopted local historic preservation ordinances to safeguard the architectural qualities that make their communities distinctive and unique. Historic courthouses, schools, railroad stations, post offices, banks, city halls, public parks, and rows of distinctive commercial and residential buildings create a clear picture of what distinguishes one borough or village from another. Historic districts are excellent examples of the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Preserving collections of related historic properties yields a much greater impact than saving lone buildings.

A charming and historic town center is also a strong selling point for businesses seeking to attract new employees and clients. This is especially true for college towns that recruit new student residents every year. Attractive historic districts add to the appeal of universities in many college towns such as West Chester, Chester County; Bloomsburg, Columbia County; and Bethlehem, Northampton County. Some colleges have recognized the importance of place and setting and have chosen to play an economic development role through the purchase and rehabilitation of key historic buildings both on and off campus. Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Union County, partnered with Barnes & Noble to relocate the college bookstore to the historic Dreisbach & Sons Hardware Store on Market Street, bringing more students downtown and making a major investment in the historic district. Some universities have their own historic districts made up entirely of campus buildings, like the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, distinguished by outstanding examples of the work of prominent architects of several eras including Thomas Webb Richards (1836-1911), Frank Furness (1839-1912), Horace Trumbauer (1868-1938), Frank Miles Day (1861-1918), Wilson Eyre (1858-1944) and Louis Kahn (1901-74).

Point State Park and the Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District, Allegheny County. PHMC/State Historic Preservation Office

The use of preservation as an economic development tool has been demonstrated by the growth and popularity of the Main Street Program, first developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980. Across the nation, downtowns that had long served as the nucleus of community economic life were filled with vacant and neglected buildings and were struggling to reinvent themselves in a new car-centric culture dominated by suburbanization, highways, shopping malls and strip plazas. Recognizing this real threat to large and small historic communities, the National Trust sought to create a commonsense strategy to assist traditional commercial areas hard hit by major changes in American life after World War II. The Main Street revitalization strategy offered a four-point approach-design, organization, promotion and economic vitality – to turn the tide in declining historic commercial areas. The development of design guidelines to encourage the preservation and reuse of key historic buildings and appropriate rehabilitation and new construction standards was a critical element for success. Since its inception the National Trust has assisted more than 1,600 Main Street communities across the country. The need for such an effort was so great that many states developed their own version of the program, adapting it to meet their needs and capacity.

In Pennsylvania more than 180 communities have participated in the state’s Main Street Program, which is administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development and supported by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Downtown Center. Currently, more than 50 communities are actively involved, seeking to revitalize their commercial cores and encourage reinvestment. The Main Street Program has been especially successful in Easton, Northampton County, where a series of popular public programs and events have been put into place and substantial reinvestment in the historic district has led to increased business startups and jobs.

The cul-de-sac off Holme Avenue, Greenbelt Knoll Historic District, Philadelphia. PHMC/State Historic Preservation Office

Pennsylvania’s earliest historic districts tended to fit the traditional model of oldest buildings of the highest architectural quality, often associated with the area’s most prominent citizens. Over the years community residents and preservationists have come to appreciate the historic or aesthetic value of other kinds of places. Consequently, historic district themes have expanded far beyond early commercial cores and homes of the communities’ wealthiest and most influential dwellers. Historic districts now encompass a broad range of historically significant subjects and represent a variety of architectural styles, types and periods. The Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District, listed in the National Register in 2015, reflects the city’s determination in the 1960s to remake its image and its downtown. Pittsburgh leaders sought to create a new perception of the city with a commercial core firmly focused on the future, as evidenced by an exciting collection of Midcentury Modern skyscrapers and public parks. Also recently listed in the National Register is Greenbelt Knoll, an architecturally distinctive group of Midcentury Modern homes designed specifically for emerging middle class African Americans in suburban northeast Philadelphia, and Carver Court in Caln Township, Chester County, a 1950s-era housing project designed by prominent Modernist architects Louis Kahn, Oskar Stonorov (1905-70) and George Howe (1886-1955). These historic districts that document the more recent past transcend the original notion of historic districts, but possess historic and architectural significance that is just as worthy of preservation.

Preservationists have learned to look at the bigger picture and seek out historic districts that tell everyone’s history and reflect the interrelationship of historic buildings and landscapes. Increasingly, historic districts show the complicated history of our state and mark such diverse places as industrial complexes, transportation corridors, rural agricultural landscapes, ethnically affiliated or working class neighborhoods, and even urban renewal efforts. Historic districts also may be made up of predominantly natural features like the Appalachian Trail, which extends through parts of multiple counties. Districts have been designated to commemorate historic battlefields such as Gettysburg and Brandywine or military encampments like Valley Forge, where the landscape features help tell what happened there.

Although Pennsylvania’s more than 1,400 recognized historic districts represent many facets of our state’s rich history and architectural heritage, there is much more work to be done to thoroughly survey, evaluate and recognize the historic places in our commonwealth. There are undoubtedly many historic districts that are as yet unidentified and whose significance has not been documented. Pennsylvania is a large and populous state with a rich and multilayered history that continues to unfold, so it is safe to assume that there will always be new historic properties and districts to discover.

Farm buildings and fields in Dutch Corner Historic Agricultural District, Bedford Township, Bedford County. PHMC/State Historic Preservation Office

For More Information

• Learn more about historic preservation in Pennsylvania
• See Pennsylvania’s historic districts via Cultural Resources GIS
• Register to receive the SHPO weekly blog and monthly e-newsletter
• Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act

Pamela W. Reilly is a historic preservation specialist in PHMC’s State Historic Preservation Office.