The Seventh Annual Community Initiative Awards

Each May, to celebrate National Historic Preservation Month, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) announces the winners of its annual Community Initiative Awards. PA SHPO started the awards program in 2016 to recognize the hard work and dedication of outstanding organizations, municipalities, agencies and individuals that advance and expand the definition of historic preservation in Pennsylvania. Dozens of candidates working hard to preserve and celebrate the historic places they care about are considered each year.

The 2023 winners and their projects that follow showcase a variety of preservation success stories, demonstrating the importance of preserving those places at the heart of Pennsylvania’s communities that embody its past and present stories.

A member of the Lower Makefield Township Historical Commission carefully cleans a grave marker at Slate Hill Cemetery.
Lower Makefield Township Historical Commission

Preservation of Slate Hill Cemetery

The Lower Makefield Township Historical Commission (LMTHC) in Bucks County is recognized for its efforts to preserve the community’s Slate Hill Cemetery and engage residents in their shared history. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Slate Hill is an intact Colonial Era graveyard that was established in 1690 as a Quaker burial ground but was later expanded to include the township’s first public cemetery. It contains about 580 burials, including six veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops who served in the Civil War. The earliest known burial dates to 1698 and the last known burial was in 1918.

In 2023 LMTHC began an ambitious project to document, preserve and promote the history of the cemetery. Over the course of the year, their work included a report on the condition of the cemetery, an updated site survey, a preservation master plan, community cleanup days and a marker cleaning program, a partnership with local police for use of ground penetrating radar for investigating underground, fundraising events, and a new education campaign to generate interest in the cemetery and the history of the Lower Makefield community.

Rehabilitation of the 1849 Nicholson Train Station

The 1849 Nicholson Train Station in the Borough of Nicholson, Wyoming County, was built by the Liggett’s Gap Railroad, one of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad’s predecessors. It was the first station built on the Scranton-to-Great Bend line and was an important community gathering place. In addition to passenger and freight rail traffic, it also housed the local post office and the first telephone service in northeastern Pennsylvania in 1878. Changes in rail service and the growth of auto travel in the 20th century precipitated the station’s closing in 1971.

Rehabilitation work on the Nicholson Train Station included the preservation of original materials, a new roof, modern electrical service, and new accessible entrances.
Nicholson Heritage Association

The Nicholson Heritage Association (NHA) purchased the station in June 2012 with donations from individuals, businesses, and a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant. Over the next several years, NHA commissioned a feasibility study to help guide future decisions about the station, hosted public meetings with the community, and sought funding to support their vision to rehabilitate the station into the area’s new visitor center. NHA held the grand opening ceremony for the new Nicholson Tourism Center at the station in July 2023.

A New Life Historic Fallon Hotel

The Fallon in the City of Lock Haven, Clinton County, was built in 1854 for the queen of Spain when she made investments in the area. It was considered a luxury hotel with celebrity guests like Mark Twain and P.T. Barnum. Over its long history, it operated as a hotel, bar and boarding house but eventually fell into disrepair and stood vacant. The prominent edifice in downtown Lock Haven is a contributing building in the Lock Haven Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Standing for 170 years, the Fallon hotel is a local icon and part of Lock Haven’s history.
Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

The current owners of the Fallon, the Chisolm family, have been working to stabilize and rehabilitate the community landmark since 2018. Their goal is to balance the building’s history and community nostalgia with bringing new life and art into the space. Work to return the hotel to service included leaky roof repairs, removing moldy flooring, renovating the lobby and bar, and updating rooms to bring the building up to code. In 2023 the hotel’s restaurant reopened as did guest rooms on the first and second floors, returning it to its original role in welcoming the community and visitors to Lock Haven.

Revitalization of the Titusville Iron Works

The Titusville Iron Works in the City of Titusville, Crawford County, traces its roots to the Titusville Manufacturing Co., the first foundry and machine shop exclusively serving the oil industry, founded in 1860. Local businessmen purchased the company in 1895, renamed it the Titusville Iron Works, diversified its product line, and expanded it with new buildings and acreage. Over the first few decades of the 20th century, the iron works evolved as owners consolidated other companies and business interests in the facility. In the early 1940s the federal government invested in new machinery and buildings for the iron works to support the war effort. By 1964 the plant had closed and the property and buildings were subdivided.

Original materials and features of the 19th machine shop give Titusville Iron Works its eclectic character.
Titusville Iron Works

In 2017 Titusville Iron Works LLC purchased the 1895 machine shop. The inspiration for the building project came from a Route 66 trip that owner Bob Joyce took with his son. They enjoyed finding oil-related signs and memorabilia along one of the country’s first highways and realized how many oil companies had ties to Titusville. Since then, Joyce and his team at the Windfall Rod Shop have completed a multiyear renovation project to turn this historic industrial property into a multipurpose community gathering spot with a bar, restaurant, museum and event venue, preserving an important part of Titusville’s history and spurring revitalization of the city’s downtown.

Past Award Winner Updates

Last fall, Friends of Sheepford Road Bridge/West Shore Historical Society had a ceremony at the Sheepford Road Bridge to celebrate additional financial support for the rehabilitation work and to bury the metal time capsule they received from PA SHPO as their 2022 Community Initiative Award.

In February, Concord Township (Delaware County) and Blairsville Area Underground Railroad (BAUGRR), two of the 2022 award winners, held ceremonies during Black History Month. Concord Township officially reopened the restored Spring Valley AME Church. In Indiana, PA SHPO presented BAUGRR with their time capsule during an open house.

These award winners were highlighted in the Fall 2023 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage.

You can learn more about PA SHPO’s Community Initiative Awards at phmc.pa.gov/Preservation/educationoutreach.

Shelby Weaver Splain is the education and special initiatives coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.