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Worth Saving
The Newsletter of the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office
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Events, Awards, and Grants
For statewide event lists, visit the HPO Facebook event list, Preservation North Carolina events list, or a September - November 2014 calendar and workshop and conference list courtesy of the Federation of N.C. Historical Societies.
Upcoming Bellamy Mansion, Wilmington, events include:
- December 13: Christmas Stroll Through the Past. 4 PM - 8PM. The Bellamy Mansion Museum and the Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens invite you to stroll down Market Street through the past. Celebrate the holidays with a luminary walk, period decorations, music, costumed interpreters, petting zoo, refreshments and more. The St. James Church nave will also be open for visitors during the stroll, with architectural historian Edward F. Turberg available for questions. $25 for adults ($20 if purchased before 12/1); $5 for children (ages 5-12); and free for children under 5. Tickets available online and at the Burgwin Wright-House and the Bellamy Mansion.
- December 31: Masquerade at the Mansion. 8:30 PM - 12: 30 AM. Celebrate New Year's Eve 2014 at the Historic Bellamy Mansion with a Masquerade themed party. Masquerade Masks required. $20/person includes light hors d'oeuvres, a DJ and dancing, and a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets available at the Bellamy Mansion or online.
November 11-12 Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 2014 Training Courses. ACHP staff instructors have been offering Section 106 training across the country throughout 2014. Courses include Section 106 Essentials and the Advanced Seminar. These interactive courses feature practical guidance and opportunities to apply learning in case-based exercises. The final 2014 courses will be taught in Savannah, GA, on November 11-12. Visit this page for registration details and pricing. Please contact Cindy Bienvenue at [email protected] if you have any questions.
November 11-14 National Preservation Conference, Savannah, GA. See this page.
November 12-15 Southeast Archaeological Conference, in Greenville, SC. See this page.
January 29, 2015 "18th Century Architecture in the Upper Tar River Valley." 7:30 PM, Louisburg College, Benson Chapel, Louisburg, NC. Annual Joseph E. Elmore Lecture featuring Michael Southern, Senior Architectural Historian and GIS Coordinator with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office.
April 13-16, 2015 Mid-Century Modern Structures: Materials and Preservation 2015 Symposium, Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, MO. Focusing primarily on the history, use, and preservation of materials found in Mid-Century Modern architecture, the three-day symposium will provide in-depth understanding of the complex issues associated with the preservation of these structures. Special emphasis will be on modern architectural metals, but presentations on other materials, such as concrete and curtain wall structures, will be included. The call for papers/posters and registration information can be found on this page.
June 17-19, 2015 National Rosenwald Schools Conference: Sharing the Past → Shaping the Future, Durham, NC. Riding the wave of the wildly successful 2012 Centennial Rosenwald Schools conference in Tuskegee, AL, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is partnering with the NC Department of Cultural Resources, Preservation Durham, the Conservation Trust of North Carolina, and others to sponsor a second national Rosenwald schools conference that will feature thirty educational sessions, poster sessions, field sessions at area schools, and other thematic tours. For more information in the coming months, see this page.
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Grants. The National Endowment for the Humanities invites applications from nonprofit museums, libraries, archives, and educational institutions in the United States for the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant program. This program supports planning and implementation of sustainable preventive conservation projects that pragmatically balance preservation goals, cost, and environmental impact. Deadline for applications is December 3.Guidelines, FAQs, and sample narratives from successful applications are online on this page. NEH program officers are available to discuss project ideas and read draft proposals. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-606-8570.
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Recent National Register Listings
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Rehabilitation and Tax Credit Project Highlights
Durham County, Durham, Durham Fire Station #1
The 1924 Durham Fire Station #1 in the Downtown Durham Historic District is an outstanding example from Durham's architectural boom period 1910-1940. The recent project included removing the unsympathetic 1970s alterations and rehabilitating the first floor for a restaurant and the second floor for an office tenant. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with an estimated private investment rehabilitation cost of $1,327,000.
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Durham Fire Station #1 before and after rehabilitation
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Bennett Place Purchase Update: Money Raised
Last month we included a piece about Bennett Place State Historic Site's efforts to raise money for the purchase of adjacent land associated with the largest troop surrender of the Civil War. The more than $300,000 needed for the purchase has now been raised. Click here to read the update.
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Archaeology Work at House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site to Find Lost Kitchin
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Alston House at House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site
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The ca. 1772 Alston House, listed in the National Register in 1970 and also known as the House in the Horseshoe, had a separate kitchen early in its history but no one knows exactly where it was located. Jacob Taylor, a UNCG doctoral candidate has been doing research to find out. Click here to learn what he found.
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3rd Annual Newell Rosenwald School Day Held
 | Newell Rosenwald School, Charlotte. Photo courtesy
of the Fisk University Rosenwald Fund
Card File Database. |
Silver Star Community, Inc., held their 3rd Annual Newell Rosenwald School Day in the Newell community in northeast Mecklenburg County, on October 11. Stephanie Deutsch, speaker, journalist, and author of You Need a Schoolhouse, Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South, was the presenter. The proceeds from the benefit will help fund the continued rehabilitation of the Newell Rosenwald School. Click here to learn more about the school.
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 | | Mars Hill Rosenwald School |
An exhibit tracing African American education in western North Carolina from reconstruction through integration in the 1960s has opened at the Rural Heritage Museum at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill. The exhibit focuses on the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School 's teachers and students, as well as their parents, and is open until February 28. Special programming is scheduled for the exhibit in the coming months. For more information please call 828-689-1400 or visit the museum website.
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NOAA and Coast Guard Join to Preserve Historic World War I Shipwreck
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Photo of Diamond Shoal Lightship No. 71.
Photo courtesy of NOAA/Monitor National
Marine Sanctuary.
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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.
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World War II German U-Boat Wreck Off NC Coast
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U-576 sonar image from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off
the North Carolina coast. Photo courtesy of NOAA/Monitor
National Marine Sanctuary.
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A German submarine, the U-576, was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles off Cape Hatteras and just 240 yards from an American merchant ship, the merchant tanker Bluefields, which was part of a 24-ship U.S. convoy heading from Virginia to Key West, Florida, on July 14, 1942. Both were casualties in the Battle of the Atlantic. Click here and here to learn more about the battle and the wreck.
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Support Group for Neely School, Rowan County, Wins Award
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Neely School, Rowan County
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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.
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Pender County Government Offices Moving into Topsail Consolidated School
 | | 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.
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Raleigh Report Cites Local Economic Impact of Historic Preservation
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.
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Section of Trail of Tears Near NC-TN State Line Gets New Protection
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.
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Gullah Geechee Heritage at Risk
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.
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Efforts to Restore the Endor Iron Furnace Move Ahead
 | | 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
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Tapoco Lodge in Graham County to be Auctioned November 7
An approximately 124-acre property located in the Nantahala National Forest , on the banks of the Cheoah River near Robbinsville, is to be auctioned on November 7. It was home to the town of Tapoco, founded in 1913 to provide housing for the hundreds of workers constructing the hydroelectric dams and includes the main building, today known as Historic Tapoco Lodge; the restored Tapoco Tin Movie House, which was used as a community center, dance hall, and for going away parties for the many local soldiers during World War II; eight cabins; two modern restaurants; a tap room; two tennis courts; and associated furnishings and equipment. Landscape features include a riverside walking path and two and a half miles of maintained hiking trails that lead to a gorgeous natural waterfall. Click here for more details about the property auction, here for a summary of the history of the property, and here for the National Register nomination for the Tapoco Lodge Historic District (NR-listed 2004).
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Mass Mobs: A New Strategy for Fundraising for Endangered Church Rehabilitation?
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.
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HUD National Disaster Resilience Competition
(Repeated from the NCSHPO News October 17, 2014)
Responding to demand from state, local and tribal leaders who are working to increase the safety and security of their communities, HUD announced a $1 billion competition, inviting communities that have experienced natural disasters to compete for funds to help them rebuild and increase their resilience to future disasters. The competition will support innovative resilience projects at the local level while encouraging communities to adopt policy changes and activities that plan for the impacts of extreme weather and climate change and rebuild affected areas to be better prepared for the future.
Of the nearly $1 billion available through the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, about $820 million will be available to all states and local governments that experienced a Presidentially-declared major disaster in 2011, 2012, and 2013. States in the Hurricane Sandy-affected region will be eligible to compete for approximately $180 million, to help address critical housing needs, building on the successful model set forth by HUD's Rebuild by Design competition.
For more about the competition visit this page.
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Secretary Jewell, Director Jarvis Announce $500,000 in Matching Grants to Support Diversity in National Register of Historic Places
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced $500,000 in matching grants to help fund 13 projects across the country to increase the number of listings in the National Register associated with Latinos and other underrepresented communities including African Americans, Asian Americans, and LGBT Americans, among otherse.
Grant-supported projects include surveys and inventories of historic properties associated with communities underrepresented in the National Register, as well as the development of nominations to the National Register for specific sites.
Survey projects receiving grants include those that will inventory African American heritage sites in Montana, Pueblo Nations in New Mexico, LGBT sites in New York City, Latino properties in Washington's Yakima Valley and Asian American sites in Utah. Nominations to the National Register of Historic Places will be prepared for LGBT sites in Kentucky, African American Civil Rights resources in Baltimore and sites associated with Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans in Boston.
The projects are:
- 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.
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Fewer Dangerous Fires Another Reason to Live in an Older Home
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.
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American Architectural Foundation and National Park Service Announce New Partnership to Promote Save America's Treasures
The American Architectural Foundation and the National Park Service have announced a new partnership to promote Save America's Treasures, the grant program established in 1999 to preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections for future generations of Americans. As the new non-profit partner of Save America's Treasures, the American Architectural Foundation will work with the National Park Service and its Save America's Treasures partner agencies (including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services) to increase public understanding of the Save America's Treasures program and the vital role it plays in rescuing, preserving and conserving our nation's most significant cultural, intellectual, and heritage resources. See more at this page.
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For Your Entertainment and Edification...
- This is the type of rehabilitation we really love to see. This rehabilitation tax credit project did not "upgrade" the original garage doors but kept them. Here are the before and after photos:
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1407 Watts St., Durham, before and after
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- The Department of the Interior has announced its 2015 fee-free days. The National Park Service will hold nine admission fee-free days, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) six and the U. S. Forest Service five.
- Handicap accessibility is a common problem for historic buildings, but what if you had to make the Coliseum or even a section of Paris accessible? Click here to learn about the problem and solutions at this scale.
- Taking city planning and connectivity to a new level, South Korea has built a city from the ground up in the last decade. Click here to learn more about Songdo. Several clips make up the episode (Horizons Episode 11) so keep watching to the end for the full story about city connectivity worldwide.
- Who says video games and architecture don't mix? Click here to see how.
- What do people want from architecture in the future? Click here to read about some very unusual answers. Click here to read other articles about future cities.
- The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has done a major revamp of their Guidance and Training Materials. The materials are aimed at a general audience as well as professional consultants, CLG and other local government staff, university faculty, students, historic property owners, and historic preservation advocates. Not everything applies to nomination preparation in North Carolina, but there are some helpful pieces of information, including a style guide near the bottom of the page. Visit the website here.
- U. S. Department of Agriculture Launches $2 Million Tall Wood Building Prize Competition: Wood structure skyscrapers may soon be possible due to advances in building technology and materials. The U. S. Department of Agriculture wants to see this goal achieved and is offering a prize to the best design. Click here to learn more about the growing interest in such a feat and the details of the contest.
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