PAHGS: Historic preservation
Designated as National Preservation Month, May is also known as National Historic Preservation Month, a time which celebrates our nation’s heritage.
Often, this has been done through recognition of historic places. Initially, the National Trust for Historic Preservation established a week in May as National Historic Preservation Week in 1973. In 2005, the National Trust expanded the celebration to a month-long observance to encourage everyone to engage in some form of preservation.
Another result of this interest in historical sites is the inclusion of buildings on the National Register of
Historic Places, several of which are located in the Punxsutawney area. They include the Christian Miller and the T.M. Kurtz houses on West Mahoning Street, the U.S. Post Office on North Findley Street (now the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center) and the former Jefferson Theatre, also on North Findley, the entrance to which is now part of the ATA complex. The register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and is maintained by the National Park Service. In Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office manages the National Register program.
Even without an official designation, owners of historic (small “h”) properties are keen to learn about their histories. Such owners have to be commended for their efforts to bring that history out and to bring back historic elements which, perhaps, were lost over time. PAHGS has recognized several of these sites at its fall dinner, expected to be held this year in October.
Pennsylvania has another program, similar to that in other states, to recognize Century and Bicentennial Farms, which have been in the same family for 100 or 200 years. It is administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The Pennsylvania state program was initiated in 1977. Due to growing interest in a Bicentennial Farm Program, and a constant effort to preserve our agriculture heritage and recognize the conservation of farmland usage in the commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture began to administer a Bicentennial Farm Program in 2004. The information on the applications and other information supplied by the applicants is filed in the archives of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. A press release from the Department of Agriculture describes the recognition of several Century and Bicentennial Farms at the 106th Pennsylvania Farm Show, January 2022, including one from Clarion County. Since the Century Farm program’s inception in 1977 and the creation of the Bicentennial Farm program in 2004, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has recognized more than 2,280 Century and Bicentennial Farms.
Jefferson County has Century Farms too, as described in a book written by Jean K. Harriger and published in 1988 by the Jefferson County Historical and Genealogical Society. A copy of this book can be found in the Tibby Library at PAHGS.
Pennsylvania also has a program for historic roadside markers to designate a site, not always a building, that has historic significance due to events that took place there or historic figures who were part of that area’s story. The program is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. One marker, in Punxsutawney, recognizes the history and career of area native, Charles J. Margiotti, who served as Pennsylvania Attorney General during the administration of both Democratic and Republican governors. Jefferson County is set to work with other county historical societies to initiate a similar program soon to recognize special places within the county with roadside markers.
Preservation takes many forms and it seems appropriate, in the month of May, which includes our annual Memorial Day holiday, that mention is made of the extensive project led by local genealogists prior to 1980 to document every readable monument in every cemetery in Jefferson County. The result is the compilation by Patricia Steele of “Tombstone Hoppin’” 40-plus years ago. Thank goodness for their work, as many once readable stones can now no longer be read. We know where they are, however, as the “Hoppin’” volumes list each, row by row, together with birth and death dates and military service, if noted. The first volume covered the northern part of the county, while the second covered the south. The index provided in each was by surname and page only, so PAHGS volunteers spent many hours creating a more extensive index for the southern volume. Later, Steele produced an updated version. PAHGS has all of these books and many others which help to preserve history in one way or another. In a parallel preservation project, several local organizations have banded together to ensure that the heritage of the North Findley Street Cemetery in Punxsutawney is preserved.
Finally, preservation and conservation overlap at times, as when the Century Farm website describes preservation of our farm heritage in the same sentence as the conservation of our farmland. Just this week, in the WPSU show “Keystone Stories,” a significant amount of time was spent on the preservation of Pennsylvania’s lumber heritage, depletion of commonwealth forests due to over-cutting and subsequent revitalization through a variety of conservation techniques
Upcoming events and deadlines:
• June 30 is the deadline to purchase a tile for the Coal Memorial wall at 404 W. Mahoning in time for a Labor Day weekend placement. Forms are available by visiting the Lattimer House in person, calling, emailing or going to the society’s website.
• July 1 is the deadline to register to show one or more quilts for the quilt show scheduled for Saturday, July 9, at the Lattimer House. Visit, call or email the Society to register.
• Sept. 30 is the deadline to pay calendar year 2022 membership dues to assure eligibility for late fall officer and director elections. New or renewing members can visit or pay online through the society’s website. Existing lifetime members, of course, are already eligible to vote.
— Marty Armstrong, Accessions, Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc.; PO Box 286, 400-401 W. Mahoning St., Punxsutawney, PA 15767; phone: 814-938-2555; email: punxsyhistory@outlook.com; website: www.punxsyhistory.org; Facebook: Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society.
PAHGS’s current hours for Lattimer House Punxsutawney Groundhog Day History Museum, Reschini Room Displays, Jenks Gift Shop, Tibby Library: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. Advance appointments are required for genealogy research. Federal and state COVID-19 precautions prevail.