BUILDING HISTORY FROM THE GROUND UP: IDENTIFYING HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN YOUR COMMUNITY

By Steve Gordon, Survey Manager, Ohio Historic Preservation Office

Local History Notebook, May / June 1993

During the past two decades, significant changes have taken place in how many Ohioans perceive the past. From Ashtabula to North Bend and Bryan to Pomeroy, Ohioans now recognize their states physical heritage--its landmark buildings, neighborhoods, and rural landscapes--as a major cultural and economic asset rather than just a nostalgic reminder of an idyllic past. Thousands of buildings and archaeological sites have been saved, neighborhoods revitalized, and downtown commercial districts brought back to life. Tourism has emerged as a billion dollar industry in the Buckeye State; among Ohio travelers, historical attractions are the number one preference of group tours.

Historic properties--our buildings, structures, sites, and objects--are frequently the best tangible evidence of a community's history and special character. Such properties may be important by virtue of their architectural style or type of construction, or for their historical association with significant people, groups of people or events. Whether rural or urban, each community can find its own special identity in its residences, skyscrapers, factories, farms, or commercial districts. The intrinsic character of Ohio's communities is enriched by whatever is conserved for the future, and for many of us it is the awareness of this history that enhances community identity. As one noted historian observed, "Artifacts enable us to gain an understanding of the uncommon history of common things." These artifacts help shape the public's understanding of an abstract history through physical expression.(1)

Why Survey?

Why should an organization support a historic properties survey, and how does a community benefit from doing one? For starters, a survey provides useful information that helps local leaders and decision-makers make more informed decisions about historic properties and their communities. Such information helps protect historic properties from potentially damaging effects caused by publicly funded or licensed projects, such as highway construction, transmission or sewer lines, and building improvement programs. A survey is an important point of reference for mounting a preservation effort; often it is used by people safeguarding the community's heritage. Surveys based on solid background research and on-site examination also help foster a greater level of cultural and historical literacy and enliven a community's unwritten history. Historic properties provide us with a sense of continuity and familiarity in a rapidly changing world and allow us to connect with other groups, past and present. And, on a more practical level, we would be wise to consider how historic buildings represent a physical legacy that when preserved can mean a real savings in time, energy, money, and raw materials for a community.

Background Research

Always remind yourself that historical research is ongoing throughout the course of the project; it is never over until the survey is complete, and even then it really is not finished. Too often buildings have been lost because they lacked something visual, but seldom because they lacked something historical. Identifying and preserving only those buildings that are treasured for their beauty or those that can be handsomely renovated are common pitfalls. In the words of one writer, if you do not learn about the people who lived and worked in a building, you are missing its heart.(3) It is the responsibility of a good researcher to strike a balance by locating the lesser known properties and placing them in the proper context of the community's history. Research provides a solid basis for identifying and evaluating surveyed properties and helps the community avoid starting at the beginning each time it addresses a historic preservation issue. By establishing the background information needed to associate a property or groups of properties to larger historic themes or time frames, research helps place all of the surveyed properties in their historic context.

Historical context is, in simplified terms, an organized body of information about the period, the place, and the events associated with the historic property. A historic context should describe the history of the community and where the property is located as it relates to the history of the community. It should focus on broad but well-defined themes and questions, rather than a chronological citation of facts without context. Properties themselves often suggest historic contexts when they are examined as a group and their background is further investigated. A good example is a historical study of the charcoal iron industry in southern Ohio's Hanging Rock region from 1830-1900. Such a study serves as a framework for analyzing individual historic properties or groups of related properties to determine which associations or physical features make them historically significant within that particular context.

Before beginning your historical research, always determine the amount of background information and survey work previously done on properties in the project area. Sources of information can be found in the local library, historic preservation organization, city planning office, and the OHPO. If there is a nearby college or university with a graduate program in architectural history, history, or urban planning, it is possible a graduate thesis or doctoral dissertation is available on a topic related to the survey area.

Experienced researchers are well aware that background investigation is based extensively on written records. Sources include published city and county histories, newspapers, city and state directories, diaries, maps, company records, and public records. City and county atlases and fire insurance maps published by the Baist and Sanborn Insurance companies are excellent starting points for the researcher. Newspapers can yield valuable information although few are indexed by subject. Once located, real estate ads, estate sale notices, and articles highlighting "building improvements" can shed light on a community's history and development. High on my list of sources are city, county, and state directories, which provide names, addresses, occupations, and, on occasion, race for most adult residents. Directories are arranged alphabetically by surname or firm and for much of the twentieth-century urban residents, institutions and business establishment can also be found under headings listed by street addresses. For smaller villages and hamlets where no city directories were published, state directories and gazetteers often provide nuggets of statistical information as well as names of leading commercial and business establishments.

Buildings as Artifacts

While some historians have paid lip service to the idea that buildings can be classed as documents, historic properties themselves are primary sources of information and can provide important clues about their occupants and a building's age, type, function, and historical association. Architectural and structural evidence may not be specific enough to establish precise dates, but it can help you focus your research on specific time periods and groups of people. Bear in mind historic architecture is largely mute; it requires careful and sensitive interpretation. Buildings and structures are complex artifacts created and used by diverse, ranges of people, and they need to be examined carefully. One of your first priorities is to familiarize yourself with the materials and methods used in the building trades. A building's form, structural system, and finish materials can provide valuable clues to the date of construction as well as the origins of its builder or original occupants. Closely examine molding styles, hardware, window and door treatments, framing methods, and telltale signs such as saw and planing marks. Check for variations in siding, breaks in the foundation and walls, and the size and arrangement of window sash patterns. Many buildings and structures have accretions or have been altered to camouflage much of their earlier historic fabric.

The principal test to determine whether a property retains integrity is to ask--Does the property still have the physical attributes or essence of design that makes it architecturally or structurally significant and able to convey its historical association? The property should retain the essential physical features enabling it to convey its historic identity or character. However, because historic properties change over time, most do not retain all of their physical features or characteristics. This does not mean that an altered building is unimportant. As David Lowenthal has aptly cautioned, "Nothing ever made has been left untouched....It is far better to realize the past has always been altered than to pretend it has always been the same."(4)

One of the best ways to systematically gather information on historic properties is by using the Ohio Historic Inventory form (OHI). Developed nearly twenty years ago by the OHPO, the OHI form is a single-page, two-sided questionnaire that consists of six basic sections-identification, location, background, architectural data, additional information, and documentation.

The OHPO is responsible for maintaining the inventory of historic properties in Ohio. Although over 70,000 OHI forms have been compiled since 1974, the great majority of the state's historic buildings, structures, sites, and objects have yet to be recorded. Significant types of properties such as barns, farm outbuildings, industrial complexes, and designed landscapes have been overlooked. Many large groups of buildings and entire neighborhoods dating to the second quarter of the twentieth century have only recently been recognized for their architectural and historical significance. Historical organizations, preservation groups, and private sector interests need to coordinate efforts if we are to succeed in documenting and preserving our historic places. The more thorough and inclusive the survey, the better able we are to determine which properties are significant. If you or your organization are interested in doing a survey, contact the OHPO Survey Manager. Ohio's historic built environment is threatened as never before. Forces such as obsolescence, rural abandonment and mindless development are taking an ever increasing toll on our special places. Preserving this irreplaceable inheritance is essential if we are to ever understand and appreciate our history and the forces that have helped create our contemporary society. To preserve this diversity, we need to know more about what is there, for who it is important, and why. Unlocking this cultural evidence and providing others with what one historian has called a discriminating memory are the challenges facing those who care about our history.(5)

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selection of subjects and authors is based on the OAHSM Editorial Board's and the Local History Office's determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reference inserts are copyrighted 1993 @ by the Ohio Historical Society. Reprints are available; please specify volume and number. For further information, contact: