September 2001 Meeting of Historic Preservation Board

Written by in the A Place in Time category and the Summer 2002 issue Topics in this article: agriculture, Altoona, Bell Telephone Co., Blair County, Bradford County, Brinton House, Bucks County, Bureau for Historic Preservation, Cairnwood, Chester County, Franklin County, Harrisburg, Lancaster County, Mifflin County, Montgomery County, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, September 11 attacks (9/11), Somerset County, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington County, Washington D.C.
A Place in Time spotlights a significant cultural resource - a district, site, building, structure or object - entered in the National Register of Historic Places.

In the dizzying aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans realized that their lives would be forever changed. Terrorism even impacted the routine – and frequently mundane – ways in which business had been conducted.

For its September 2001 meeting-held, incidentally, on Tuesday, September 11 – the Commonwealth’s Historic Preservation Board convened in Harrisburg to approve nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. As the tragic events of that morning began to unfold, it became apparent that, on this day and for many days to come, it would not be busi­ness as usual. Board members, who receive the National Register nominations to review well in advance of their meetings, approved the nominations and sped the meeting to a conclusion. The approved nominations were then sent to the National Park Service (NFS), U.S. Department of the Interior, in Washington, D.C.

Faced with growing threats of mail being contaminated by anthrax, federal officials rerouted incoming correspondence to facilities in Ohio and New Jersey where it was irradiated. This intense sterilization process melted photographs, discolored, burned, and weakened papers, such as letters, application forms, and supporting documentation, and ruined computer discs containing electronic copies of background information and images. As a result, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Bureau for His­toric Preservation needed to resubmit eight nominations for consideration by the NPS: Cairnwood and the Curtis Arboretum, Montgomery County; Harbaugh’s Reformed Church, Franklin County; Bar­clay Home, Chester County; Bell Tele­phone Exchange Building, Philadelphia County; and Ivyland Historic District, Atkinson Road Bridge, and the Buck­manville Historic District, Bucks County.

Properties in the Keystone State recently entered in the National Register of Historic Places include examples of commercial buildings, historic landscaping, ecclesiastical architecture, and buildings and structures associated with nineteenth-century transportation, such as a bridge and a canal section, and banking, agriculture, and public education.

 

Recent Additions to the National Register of Historic Places

Knickerbocker Historic District
Altoona, Blair County
February 20, 2002

Troy Public High School
Troy, Bradford County
February 20, 2002

Upper Uwchlan Township
Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County
February 20, 2002

Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata Division, Canal Section
Granville Township, Mifflin County
February 20, 2002

Fairmount Avenue Historic District
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
February 20, 2002

Smyser and English Pharmacy
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
February 20, 2002

Social Service Building
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
February 20, 2002

Second National Bank of Meyersdale
Meyersdale, Somerset County
February 20, 2002

Byers-Muma House
East Donegal Township, Lancaster County
February 22, 2002

Buckmanville Historic District
Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County
March 20, 2002

Ivyland Historic District
Ivyland, Bucks County
March 20, 2002

Harbaugh’s Reformed Church
Washington Township, Franklin County
March 20, 2002

Curtis Arboretum
Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County
March 20, 2002

Bell Telephone Exchange Building
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
March 20, 2002

Frank L. Ross Farm
North Bethlehem Township, Washington County
March 20,2002

Brinton-King Farmstead
Pennsbury Township, Chester County
March 21, 2002

Cairnwood
Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County
March 21, 2002

Barclay Home
West Chester, Chester County
April 18, 2002

Atkinson Road Bridge
Solebury Township, Bucks County
March 20, 2002