Indiana County Historic Preservation Committee
Indiana, Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
John Milner Associates, Architects and Planners
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem's Main Street area possesses a long and impressive history as an urban center. It was a hub in the original Moravian town plan, containing centers of government, religion and commerce. "Der Platz," as a major portion of the present day Main Street was originally referred to, was a large open area which served as the gathering place for the populace and became a center of social and political activity. Even in its early days, Main Street was an area of mixed use; a center of cultural events, innovative industry and retailing revolving around this open space. Main Street has evolved, but remains the potential for recapturing much of its original character in mood if not in complete physical detail. The street is an integral part of a diverse and nationally significant historic district. The Moravian heritage is impressively represented in a variety of eighteenth century residential and industrial buildings to the south, and Main Street survives as an example of Bethlehem's physical and cultural evolution. It is endowed with buildings which date from the mid-eighteenth century - such as the soon to be restored Sun Inn; early nineteenth century - the Sebastion Goundie House; and Victorian period commercial structures - Young Folks Bazaar and the Tom Bass store. Consequently, the true architectural value of Main Street lies in the fact that it possesses a variety of distinctive structures spanning over 200 years of architectural style.
Clarion, Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
In the fall of 1976 an undergraduate course in historic preservation was created and placed in the Geography curriculum at Slippery Rock State College. The reason for the introduction of this new course was based upon the growing importance of the historic preservation movement in the United States, and a recognition that the course would support two areas of student concentration, Human Ecology and Rural-Urban Planning. It was necessary to design a one-semester, three credit course that would provide undergraduate students with a general introduction to historic preservation. The purpose of this article is to discuss the major themes and same of the methods employed in teaching that course. Historic preservation is a new academic subject. Most of us, in preparing to teach a course on the subject, had no models or comparative examples to utilize. What is presented here is one type of model, which could possibly serve as a guide or departure point for other geographers who are faced with the task of preparing and teaching a course in historic preservation.