Photo of Diamond Shoal Lightship No. 71. Photo courtesy of NOAA/Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with assistance from the U. S. Coast Guard, will manage the historic wreck of Diamond Shoal Lightship No. 71, the only American lightship to be sunk by enemy action during World War I. Built in Bath, Maine, in 1897, the lightship, also known as LV-71, served as a floating lighthouse, sound signal station, and navigational beacon.  For twenty-one years, the lightship marked the treacherous waters of Diamond Shoals off of North Carolina to ensure other vessels could navigate safely. Then, on August 6, 1918, the German submarine U-140 attacked the vessel while it was anchored off Cape Hatteras. Click here to learn more.

Neely School, Rowan County

Historic Neely School Foundation (HNSF) was presented Preservation North Carolina's (PNC) 2014 Stedman Incentive grant in the amount of $10,000 for the restoration of Neely School. The award funded by the Marian S. Covington Foundation was established in 1975 to assist in the rescue of an endangered historically and architecturally significant property. The simple 1908 one-room school house, standing on family land and administered by the family and with teachers provided by the Rowan County Superintendent of schools, offered the only opportunity for the children of the immediate community to attend a school. It was moved to a location immediately in front of its future permanent home on the Neely home site, where it will be rehabilitated. Click here for more information.

Topsail Consolidated School, Pender County, before and after rehabilitation. After photo courtesy of WECT.

The 1924-25 Topsail Consolidated School, in Hampstead, Pender County, was vacant for years and deteriorating, but now it has a new purpose. Pender County government offices have moved into the newly rehabilitated building as an annex to the main county offices. The building will also be available for community use. Click here to learn more about this wonderful repurposing.

The Raleigh Historic Development Commission has released an economic impact analysis, conducted by economist Donovan Rypkema of PlaceEconomics, which shows that historic preservation does have a local economic impact. The study costs $30,000, with half the amount funded by a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the State Historic Preservation Office and the other half covered by city matching funds. Click here for more information.

A section of the Trail of Tears that runs from resent-day Hayesville, North Carolina, to Athens, Tennessee, has been transferred to the ownership of the U.S. Forest Service from The Conservation Fund, providing protection for a significant portion of the National Historic Trail that traverses through the forested property. This completes the final phase of an effort by The Conservation Fund to protect the original route of the historic Trail of Tears near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Approximately 222 acres was conveyed to the U.S. Forest Service. Learn more here.

The Gullah Geechee heritage was celebrated during October. ("Gullah" is preferred in NC and SC; "Geechee" is preferred in Georgia and Florida.) Will raising awareness of this fragile coastal culture rescue it from the threats of rapid development and golf courses? Click here to learn more about the danger and learn more about the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor here.  

Endor Iron Furnace during dismantling process.

The Railroad House Historical Association, based in Sanford, is moving forward with its efforts to restore the Endor Iron Furnace in Lee County. Due to damage caused by a falling boulder and the ravages of time and weather, the furnace is crumbling. The association is painstakingly labeling and recording the location of each stone as they disassemble the furnace before it collapses. The association also is striving to raise the remaining 25 percent of the $2 million needed to restore the furnace. To learn more about the furnace and to help with its restoration, visit this page

Sure you have heard of flash mobs, but have you heard of Mass mobs? Started in Buffalo, New York, and spreading across the Northeast and Midwest, struggling Catholic churches have begun holding Mass mobs, a Mass but with a social event twist, to bring people into churches that are often historic and in need of repair and new members. Attendees often make donations to help fund rehabilitations. Is this a viable way to fundraise and raise awareness of historic churches? Click here to learn more about this potential tool.  

(Repeated from the NCSHPO News October 17, 2014) 

• California: Preserve 20th-Century Latino History -- $30,079 to enable the State Historic Preservation Office to nominate seven to 20 Latino properties to the National Register.
   
• Idaho: Complete Nomination of the Rapid River Fishery in Partnership with the Nez Pierce Tribe -- $25,090
   
• Kentucky: Historic Context and Nomination of LGBT Heritage -- $25,000 to nominate the Whiskey Row Historic District and the Henry Clay hotel in Louisville
   
• Massachusetts: Chinese Immigrants and Chinese Americans in Boston -- $25,000 to develop a National Register Historic Context statement for the city's Chinese community in late 19th and early 20th centuries.
   
• Maryland: Multiple Property Nominations of African American Civil Rights Resources in Baltimore -- $60,000.
   
• Montana: Identifying African American Heritage Places -- $27,788
   
• New Mexico: Tribal and Pueblo Nations Preservation Summit -- $59,620 to develop a customized computer program for inventorying and mapping Pueblo villages.
   
• New York: LGBT Sites in New York City -- $49,999 to survey and document historic and cultural sites associated with LGBT heritage.
   
• Rhode Island: African American Heritage from College Hill -- $25,000 to amend the nomination for the College Hill Historic District to reflect the role of African Americans in its history.
   
• South Dakota: Architectural Surveys of Shannon County -- $26,000 to research potential Native American sites of historical significance.
   
• Utah: Asian and Pacific Islander Survey and Nomination of Historical Resources -- $42,050 for completion of nomination of Iosepa Polynesian Archeological District and archaeological survey of railroad sites associated with Chinese labor.
   
• Virginia: Virginia Indians National Register Project -- $70,000 to increase representation of historic properties associated with Native American tribes since European contact.
   
• Washington: Inventory Latino Properties in Yakima Valley and Seattle -- $34,374.

Fire fighters say that new home floor plans and building materials are contributing to fires that rapidly engulf the entire building and cause dangerous build-up of smoke, whereas floor plans and interiors of older homes can often slow a fire and give the fire department time to put the fire out - just one more reason to live in an older home. Read more here.