Hanbury Preservation Consulting

P.O. Box 6049
Raleigh, NC 27628 USA
(919) 828-1905 phone

News

Feb 26, 2024

Virginia Underground Railroad Survey

A selected survey of Underground Railroad sites in Virginia, undertaken by Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, included reconnaissance-level survey of 30 sites in Virginia previously identified by the National Park Service through the Network to Freedom project but not been recorded in Virginia’s survey database, and the identification of 20 additional sites identified through background research. An accompanying survey report provided context on the history of the Underground Railroad in Virginia, with an overview of the identified sites, and recommendations for further work.

Created by federal legislation in 1998, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program was established to:

  • Educate the public.
  • Provide technical assistance for documenting, preserving, and interpreting Underground Railroad history.
  • Create a network of historic sites; interpretive and educational programs; and research and educational facilities all with a "verifiable association" to the Underground Railroad.

Through consultation and events, the program continues to document and designate places that tell the story of the “resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.”


Dec 13, 2023

Deitrick House Landmarked

William Henley Deitrick, FAIA (1895-1974) was a prominent Raleigh architect noted for his design talent, his support of modernist architecture, and his role in historic preservation in the city of Raleigh. A native of Danville, Virginia he studied at Columbia University before moving to Raleigh where he started his own architectural practice. His firm grew from a solo practice to become a training ground for many successful local architects. Deitrick was prolific and his work spanned a broad spectrum of stylistic vocabularies. He is responsible for the design of several visually prominent Wake County buildings including the Lombard Gothic-inspired Needham Broughton High School, the International Style Rex Hospital nurses’ residence, the Art Moderne WPTF transmitter building, the Wrightian Carolina Country Club building, and his collaboration with Matthew Nowicki on the iconic J. S. Dorton Arena.

His own home is a remarkably intact example of a Georgian Revival dwelling. Popular between 1890 and 1950, the Georgian Revival benefitted from the Rockefeller family’s association with Colonial Williamsburg in the 1920s which funded extensive research into historic architecture. Numerous popular publications followed including Thomas Tileston Waterman’s books on historic architecture and The Architects’ Emergency Committee’s two volumes entitled Great Georgian Houses of America. The Deitrick house displays many of the character-defining attributes of the Georgian Revival style such as boxy, rectangular massing; symmetry; a central hall plan; dormer windows; a classical cornice; a projecting pedimented central pavilion; and double-hung sash windows evenly spaced along the elevations. The interior trim, particularly in the library and dining room, and the floating stair, show a mastery of Georgian Revival elements in combination, proportion, and profile.

The William Henley Deitrick house is significant for its association with Deitrick himself, an important architect who shaped the city of Raleigh and the practice of architecture locally, and as a masterful translation of the Georgian Revival style.

The Raleigh City Council designated the William Henley Deitrick house as a local landmark in December 2023 based on research and a report prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting.


Oct 31, 2023

Cape Charles Rosenwald School Designated

In 1928, the School Board of the Town of Cape Charles in Northampton County, Virginia purchased the land on which the Cape Charles Rosenwald School now stands. Eastern Shore contractor C. F. Russell built the school in 1929. The school is significant as one of the thousands of schools constructed for African Americans in the rural south during the first part of the twentieth century with the support of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund. In Virginia, 366 schools and 16 auxiliary buildings were constructed with assistance from the Rosenwald fund between 1917 and 1932, of which 126 remain. Four schools were built on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, of which three remain. The Cape Charles school was the only such building erected in Northampton County. Significant architecturally, the school follows a “four-teacher” standard plan developed by architect Samuel L. Smith, a director of the Rosenwald Fund, as adapted by the Virginia Department of Education, Division of School Buildings. Though not the first school for Black children in in Cape Charles, it marked a significant improvement in terms of physical plant. The school operated from 1929 to 1966 when the local schools were consolidated and eventually integrated. The building was later used as a seafood processing plant. It has been purchased by a nonprofit organization which is implementing a phased rehabilitation to put the building back in use to serve the community. For more information about the rehabilitation go here.

The building was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in September 2023 and on the National Register in October 2023. Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the nomination which can be found here.


Sep 14, 2023

Uzzell-Best Farm Designated

Uzzell-Best Farm is significant as a well-preserved farmstead dating from the mid-nineteenth century in continuous agricultural use to the present day, owned by the same family. The farm buildings including barns, a kitchen, a smokehouse, and a tobacco pack house, illustrate the evolution of changing agricultural practices of over a century in eastern Wayne County, North Carolina, namely the transition from an economy based on the work of enslaved laborers to the sharecropping system, a shift to tobacco production, and ultimately the consolidation of property under a family farming corporation.

The Uzzell-Best farmhouse is significant as an example of the Folk Victorian style of architecture, featuring trim and ornament drawn from the Queen Anne, Italianate, and Gothic Revival styles applied to a house form with restrained scale, massing, and texture. The house reflects local vernacular building trends with distinctive fireplace mantels and a regionally popular nineteenth-century form, the “breezeway kitchen.”

Hanbury Preservation Consulting wrote the National Register nomination and the farm was listed in September 2023.


Jul 28, 2023

Brown Grove Rural Historic District Listed

The Brown Grove Rural Historic District is an excellent example of a rural African American landscape that grew from Virginia’s plantation economy to a Reconstruction Era self-sufficient agricultural community and transitioned during the twentieth century into a middle-class residential neighborhood. This community has maintained tight family connections with reliance on supporting institutions like Brown Grove Baptist Church, the anchor of spiritual life in the historic district area. During the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, formerly enslaved African Americans purchased parcels from the large estates of white landowners in this portion of Hanover County. The community that emerged at the turn of the twentieth century featured a landscape of small subsistence farms connected by a network of paths and tracks to each other, the wider world, and community hubs such as the centrally located Baptist church, the schoolhouse, and a few general stores. The district is notable for the large number of small family cemeteries. The district is significant in part for its association with Caroline Dobson Morris, a midwife nicknamed “the mother of Brown Grove.” The construction of Interstate 95 in the 1950s and 1960s through the Brown Grove community caused demolition of several dwellings and loss of farmsteads and resulted in the two halves of today’s discontiguous district. The highway project falls within the district’s period of significance and the pattern of locating large public infrastructure projects in minority communities is a traditional if discriminatory development pattern.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2023. The nomination was prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting and the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.


Jul 5, 2023

Nantucket Heritage and Housing Symposium

Mary Ruffin Hanbury presented the best practices portion of Nantucket Preservation Trust's revolving fund feasibility study at the Heritage and Housing Symposium sponsored by the University of Florida's Preservation in Nantucket (PIN) program. Other participants included Tucker Holland with the Town of Nantucket, Anne Kuszpa with Housing Nantucket, Mary Bergman with Nantucket Preservation Trust, Christine Rupp with Dade Heritage Trust, Danielle Worthing Porter of Historic Richmond, Donovan Rypkema of Place Economics, and Clearly Larkin of PIN. The symposium focused on current housing issues in Nantucket and preservation-friendly models and practices that could be part of a solution.


Jun 20, 2023

Feasibility Study for Preserve Chattanooga

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a revolving fund feasibility study for Preserve Chattanooga. The study included an internal assessment, a board survey, a public survey, interviews with local stakeholders, a literature review and an analysis of organizational records, policies, and procedures. Data was collected from interviews and surveys about perceptions of needs within the larger community, opinions about revolving funds, and opportunities for increased cooperation and collaboration with partner organizations.

The study found that a revolving fund supports the organization’s mission and would address community- identified needs. The study noted areas for growth including the development of additional diversified funding sources. It also outlined strong factors for success including a community with abundant historic resources, strong partner organizations, a history of real estate participation, and a particularly experienced board and staff.


Apr 24, 2023

Mooresville Water Pump and Filter Plant Designated

The Mooresville Water Pump and Filter Plant, part of a larger water system, was originally built in 1924 during a period when municipal water systems proliferated throughout the state of North Carolina. Later expanded, it reflects early and mid-twentieth century advances in technology and engineering related to water purification and distribution. Though modest in size, the pump house has elegant and complex brickwork evidencing civic pride through the sophisticated design of a government building. Designed by prolific engineer Gilbert White, it is one of a first-wave of North Carolina water plants that were more constrained in size and design than the later designs of engineers such as William Olsen and others.

The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2023.


Apr 11, 2023

Oak Grove Baptist Church Historic District Listed

The Oak Grove Baptist Church Historic District consists of five discontinuous resources associated with a twentieth century congregation created from the eighteenth-century, African American First Baptist Church of Williamsburg. The new congregation built a church and established a cemetery along Rochambeau Drive in York County. In 1912 working with other churches and the local school board, they built the neighboring Oak Grove School to address the lack of educational opportunities for African Americans in the county. In 1942 the church was forced to move when the federal government condemned over 10,000 acres in the region for Camp Peary. Of this original campus, the church and school are now archaeological sites. The congregation moved to a new location and established a new cemetery, as access to the older burial ground was arduous. The original campus was owned by the federal government until 1975 when it was acquired through a land exchange with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation who subsequently conveyed the cemetery to the trustees of Oak Grove Baptist Church. The “new” 1946 church building is an unpretentious Carpenter Gothic style frame church with lancet windows and a graduated entrance tower, still used by the congregation. The district has areas of significance of Ethnic Heritage, Religion, Archaeology, and Art for several of the handmade concrete grave markers in the original cemetery.


Apr 11, 2023

Fairfax African American Historic Resources Survey

Hanbury Preservation Consulting, in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research, has completed a survey of African American resources in Fairfax County, Virginia. The survey was managed by Fairfax County as part of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ Survey and Planning Cost Share Program which assists local governments in surveying their community to identify cultural and historic resources.

The survey was based on the Fairfax County History Commission’s African American History Inventory, a collaborative effort between the Fairfax County History Commission and the Center for Mason Legacies, to capture, communicate, and preserve the African American experience throughout Fairfax County’s history. As part of the project, resources were documented to statewide standards which included mapping, photography, written narratives, and the creation of survey database records. Surveyed resources were evaluated for their potential to be designated on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places. A survey report was drafted and includes a historic context, survey findings, and recommendations for future study.


Jan 3, 2023

Study Completed for Meridian Architectural Trust

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a revolving fund feasibility study for the Meridian Architectural Trust. This study involved public engagement through surveys and interviews which formed the basis for a needs assessment presented to the board in a working session. A facilitated meeting created consensus on targeted property types, fund operating parameters, and permanent protection measures. Based on these decisions, the final report included action steps for engagement, property selection, messaging, and resource development.


Dec 14, 2022

Goldsboro Woman’s Club Designated

The Goldsboro Woman's Club building was constructed in 1927 as the headquarters for the Goldsboro Woman's Club, established in 1899. The club was one of dozens of such clubs across North Carolina and thousands across the nation created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, providing women with an outlet for charitable outreach and companionship, and a vehicle to organize campaigns for social betterment. The Goldsboro club established a kindergarten for the children of millworkers, advocated for public health measures, and began the local public library. The members of the Goldsboro Woman’s Club engaged in numerous fundraising activities including operating both a cafeteria and a gas station in order to afford the construction. Architecturally the building, designed by local architect Thomas Jones, is a good example of the Colonial Revival style, and an example of a purpose-built clubhouse erected during a pre-Depression boom in woman's club clubhouse construction in North Carolina.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the National Register nomination for the building, now the Wayne County Museum, and it was listed in December 2022.


Dec 6, 2022

Preservation Tools for Wyoming

Since 2006 the Sheridan Community Land Trust has worked to preserve the heritage of open spaces, healthy rivers and creeks, working ranches, wildlife habitat, and vibrant history, while expanding recreation opportunities to connect people with the places they love. As this regional nonprofit expanded their preservation efforts, they hired Hanbury Preservation Consulting to explore preservation tools that would be effective in Wyoming. The resulting study provided an overview of existing preservation infrastructure, programs, and tools, and outlined relevant best practices from other locales. The study results were presented at a workshop in Sheridan and online. Participants were asked to rate the tools for their applicability and potential success in Wyoming.

The study and survey results will be used by the Sheridan Community Land Trust to shape their preservation programming and offerings in the future, and will be shared with state entities working in the realm of historic preservation.


May 9, 2022

Watkins Chapel AME Zion Church Designated

Watkins Chapel AME Zion Church has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in "the Junction" neighborhood of Mooresville, Watkins Chapel AME Zion church is a congregation established during a period of explosive growth of the AME Zion denomination in the South, particularly in North Carolina. Though aided by strategic employment of clergy resources, the growth is a more a testament to the response of emancipated African Americans—an expression not only of faith, but of freedom from the strictures and hypocrisy of white-dominated churches. Architecturally, the Romanesque Revival-style building exemplifies several trends in early twentieth-century African American churches-the presence of the two crenellated towers on a simple front-gabled form, the tradition of rebuilding or cladding frame structures with brick as resources allowed, and a plan adapted for services focused on music and preaching.


Apr 20, 2022

African American Cemeteries Designated

The Town of Mooresville has designated three African American cemeteries as local landmarks. Though contiguous, and now all owned by the Town of Mooresville, each has a separate and distinct history. The earliest of the three had been abandoned. Marker and death certificate research suggests that the Catawba Cemetery was connected to the Catawba Presbytery and what is now Mooresville's Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church, thought to have been established on School Street. The second, known as Junction Cemetery for the neighborhood in which is stands, was established by William Goins who purchased the lot at the turn of the twentieth century likely as a burial site for his recently deceased wife. The third cemetery, known as Green Acres was established by the town in 1959 as a "negro cemetery."

The wooded setting of the Junction and Catawba cemeteries with their generous plantings and random groupings of graves hearkens back to traditions of slave cemeteries. Both have uncarved stones probably serving as early markers. Later nineteenth- and early twentieth-century concrete markers poured in molds with stamped or free-form lettering are also found in both. The Junction and Catawba cemeteries reflect solutions for burial instigated from within the community when the segregated public cemeteries were not an option. Green Acres Cemetery is a departure from the earlier two, intentionally established by the municipality. There, marker types and placement, plantings and other decorations have been strictly regulated and enforced from its inception. The contrast between Green Acres and the two earlier cemeteries, highlighted by their close proximity, reflects changing trends in cemetery design, maintenance, and management.

The three African American cemeteries in the Junction section of Mooresville together create a narrative that not only provides insight into burial practices and changes in cemetery design and maintenance, but also speaks to persistent racial segregation, even after death.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting conducted the research and prepared the landmark nominations.


Apr 20, 2022

Sandston Historic District listed on the National Register

What is now the Sandston Historic District began in 1918 when the E. I. DuPont De Nemours Company chose this formerly rural area with a rail connection to Richmond as the site for Seven Pines Loading Plant #3, named for the nearby Seven Pines Civil War battlefield. The plant was one of the company’s three munitions manufacturing facilities in Virginia, along with Hopewell (near Petersburg) and Penniman (north of Williamsburg). All three included employee housing hastily built as kits from materials supplied by the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, or from actual Aladdin kits.
At Seven Pines, the houses consisted of four models of six-room bungalows designed by the subsidiary DuPont Engineering Company and built by the United States Housing Corporation, an entity organized under the Department of Labor as a special wartime measure.

After the war ended on November 11, 1918, production ended abruptly and efforts to dispose of the plant buildings and the houses began immediately. Purchase of the worker village by the Richmond-Fairfield Railway Company (RFRC) in 1921 brought a new phase of development. Oliver J. Sands, a banker and the head of the railway company, envisioned the potential of the former worker village as the nucleus of a suburb of affordable housing for workers who could commute to Richmond on the rail line. Originally known as Fairfield, in 1923 the community changed its name to honor Sands. During each following decade, the community grew with new construction campaigns, notably those in the 1940s, until the original platted area saw its complete buildout in the early 1960s. The district maintains its integrity as an early 20th-century industrial workers’ village and as a post-World War I through post-World War II suburban development. The district includes one of the former munitions plant buildings, single-family dwellings, and commercial, civic, and religious uses.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting completed the district survey in collaboration with Justin Sarafin and Carey Jones, and the nomination in collaboration with David Lewes of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.


Feb 11, 2022

Revolving Fund Feasibility Study for Boyle Landmark Trust

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a revolving fund feasibility study for The Boyle Landmark Trust, which serves Boyle County, Kentucky. The study built on work the organization had completed internally including a vision statement for the program, short- and long-term goals, and project selection criteria. The study focused on stakeholder interviews and a committee workshop to provide additional insight and to help design a program suited for a local organization with limited resources including options for partnerships, comprehensive property assessment, marketing, and property protection.


Jan 25, 2022

Earle W. Webb, Jr. Memorial Civic Center and Library Designated

Carteret County native son Earle Wayne Webb, Sr. moved to New York and served as general counsel to General Motors and the CEO of Ethyl Corporation, but he never forgot his hometown, Morehead City. He built a handsome, Colonial Revival-style office building there in 1930. When in 1932 his son, then a student at Duke University, died of pneumonia, Earle established a memorial foundation. In 1934 the foundation arranged for the growing public library, established by the local Woman's Club, to use space in the office building. By 1936 he had rehabilitated the office building at the corner of Evans and South Ninth Streets to house the Earle W. Webb, Jr. Memorial Civic Center and Library, and after the death of his wife, the former Eva Arnold, the foundation was expanded to honor her memory as well. A landmark in the civic life of Morehead City, the building is also a good example of the Colonial Revival style, a nationally popular idiom with few surviving examples in the region. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 2021.


Dec 21, 2021

Fayetteville Preservation Program Review

Hanbury Preservation Consulting was hired by the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina to conduct a review and assessment of its local historic preservation program. The project was designed to evaluate several specific aspects of the program including composition and operations of its local preservation commission, aspects of current historic designations, coordination of the local ordinance and its implementation, potential design guidelines revisions, and best practices from other commissions for communication and outreach. The project resulted in a report and presentations to the city council and preservation commission.


Aug 24, 2021

Additional Information approved for Saint Augustine’s College Campus Historic District

Originally listed on the National Register in 1980, the Saint Augustine's College Campus Historic District includes the school's oldest extant buildings. A National Park Service grant-funded project required that the district's nomination be augmented in order to rehabilitate resources that are historic, but that did not fall within the original nomination's period of significance. On a pro bono basis, Hanbury Preservation Consulting performed a survey update on all resources within the district. The accompanying Additional Documentation incorporated new research that identified previously unrecognized architects and builders including Silas McBee, G. Murray Nelson, Howard Satterfield, Allen J. Maxwell, Jr, and John Wayman Holmes, who taught industrial education at Saint Augustine's and remained on campus as Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. The period of significance was extended from 1930 to 1971 which includes the growth of the school into an accredited four- year college. Five additional resources were added to the inventory, notably the plots reserved for Black Greek Letter Organizations, as a contributing site.


Mar 1, 2021

Reston Survey Completed

Working in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR), Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed an architectural survey for Reston, Virginia. Developed by Robert Simon, Reston was one of the first master-planned communities in the United States. It was built with guiding principles that provided for a wide range of housing types to serve people at all stages of life; included resources so that residents could live, work, and play within the Town; integrated recreational facilities; acknowledged that beauty is a necessity; and prioritized the dignity of the individual experience over large scale projects. Simon employed national design talent including Whittlesey and Conklin, Cloethiel W. Smith, Charles Goodman, and Louis Sauer for large and small scale development. Despite increasing growth in the Washington DC metro area, much of Reston remains intact. The survey was designed to develop an overall historic context for Reston, and to document and evaluate several buildings and districts for National Register eligibility anticipating continued development pressure.

Hickory Cluster desgned by Charles Goodman


Feb 8, 2021

Pearce-Stallings-Massey House Designated

The Pearce-Stallings-Massey House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in Franklin County, North Carolina, this evolved house expresses multiple vernacular typologies.

The earliest part of the house, ca.1820, is a frame, hall-parlor type house with a stone chimney. Around 1910, an I-house with a Triple-A roof was constructed adjacent to the earlier section. An enclosed breezeway created an internal connection between these two structures and to a kitchen wing which was likely once a separate building. A sprawling porch spans the facades of both the I-house wing and the hall-parlor wing providing visual continuity.

The Pearce-Stallings-Massey House, through its evolution from a hall-parlor dwelling to a Triple-A I-house, and retaining and incorporating its earlier incarnations, embodies distinctive characteristics of types, periods, and methods of construction from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth century in Franklin County, North Carolina.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the nomination and the house was listed on December 30, 2020.


Feb 8, 2021

Saving Places Index-Macon/Bibb

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is proud to have partnered with The Trust for Public Land and Historic Macon Foundation on the Saving Places Index. Funded by the 1772 Foundation, this multidisciplinary effort included public participation and data collection to indentify and map places of historic, cultural, scenic, natural, and recreational value. A local steering committee provided guidance and expertise in data sources, local concerns, and end-user applications. Surveys, community meetings, and an on-line app were used to promote the project and gather information about places important to the Macon/Bibb community. Historic maps and data sources on demographics were added to allow the mapping tools to be used for a broad range of planning scenarios. Algorithms applied to the collected data identified priority places for preservation and conservation, and site visits confirmed the analysis. A web-based portal contains link to the final report, a story map that summarizes the process and results, and the mapping tool.

Access the portal here.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting served as a project coordinator, conducted site visits, served as a team member for the project development, and wrote the final report.


Dec 4, 2020

Feasibility Study for Preservation Texas

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a Revolving Fund Feasibility Study for Preservation Texas. The methodology included surveys and stakeholder interviews for a study that examined feasibility in terms of the organization's mission, community needs, desired outcomes, and capacity. The study also provided local and organizational context, an examination of fund models, and a review of national best practices. One particular focus was addressing the challenge of designing a program to operate in a large geographic area through a regional approach, creating and investing in communication strategies to engage partner organizations.

Bassett Farms, photo courtesy of Preservation Texas


Nov 24, 2020

H. B. Sugg School Listed on the National Register

The H. B. Sugg School in Farmville, North Carolina is significant for its role in African American history, representing numerous trends in African American education in the state including self-help, philanthropy through national and local donors, federal assistance during the WPA, equalization investments, integration, and ultimately closure. The physical plant and the curriculum demonstrate the dueling philosophies of vocational versus classical education, both of which were taught at the school. For a period it was the sole public school for African Americans in the town of Farmville, North Carolina.

The H. B. Sugg School complex has evolved on its current site starting in 1922. An early Rosenwald school was replaced in 1936 by a brick, six-room school which was greatly expanded in 1949. In the 1950s a home economics building was constructed and a gymnasium was added to the main building.

The school is named for African American educator Herman Bryan "H. B." Sugg (1885-1980). Born of formerly enslaved parents, Sugg was educated at the Mary Potter School in Oxford, North Carolina and Lincoln University. He moved to Farmville in 1918 where he taught for the remainder of his career at the school that was named for him, retiring in 1959. In 1965 he became the first African American to serve on the local school board. His leadership was largely responsible for the continued investment in the school and the high quality of education it provided. Through sacrifice and partnership, he worked tirelessly to provide opportunities to African American students in Farmville.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the nomination and the school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 2020.


H. B. Sugg School Facade


Nomination sponsors Gwen Moore and Carrie Baker


Oct 27, 2020

Revolving Fund Feasibility Study Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a Revolving Fund Feasibility Study for the Landmark Society of Western New York. The methodology included surveys and stakeholder interviews in developing a study that examined feasibility in terms of the organization's mission, community needs, desired outcomes, and capacity. The study also provided local and organizational context, an examination of fund models, and a review of national best practices.


Jul 31, 2020

Leif Valand Study Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a context study for the work of architect Leif Valand. Born in 1911 in Norway, he immigrated to the United States as a child and lived in Jersey City. Valand received degrees from Pratt Institute and New York University and practiced architecture and interior design in the New York area. In the late 1940s he moved to Raleigh at the behest of his colleague Ed Richards and developer J. W. "Willie" York to design the 145 acre, mixed-used development of Cameron Village, which included a shopping center, garden apartments, and 88 single-family homes.

Valand continued to work with Richards and York on subdivisions and shopping centers, largely in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, but occasionally in other parts of the state or country. Valand also designed a number of landmark buildings for other clients, many of which have since been demolished.

The context study was designed to garner a better understanding of the scope of Valand's built works, of his design aesthetic, and of his impact on the larger design community and the built environment of Raleigh. The study included interviews with former employees, archival research, and field study, resulting in a document that included a comprehensive list of known projects (many of which had not been documented or had been mis-attributed) and suggestions for future research topics. Work on the study spurred the donation of several collections of Valand documents from clients and colleagues to the Special Collections at the North Carolina State University Library where they will be available for scholarly research.


Jul 10, 2020

Davidson Local Historic District Expansion Approved

The Town Council of Davidson, North Carolina voted in April to approve the expansion of their existing local historic district, effective June 1, 2020. The expansion along North Main Street is the result of a multi-phased project by Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with architectural historian Jenny Harper. The project includes an updated survey of the existing National Register historic district, which is on-going; the preparation of a local district boundary extension, drawing heavily on the National Register nomination by Mattson, Alexander and Associates; and recommendations for future work.

The local district designation will provide for design review and limited protection along the North Main Street corridor, which includes a former mill, powerhouse, mill housing, a cemetery, and a collection of vernacular and high-style dwellings.


Jun 10, 2020

St. Augustine’s Chapel Windows Return

The restored stained glass windows for the historic chapel on the campus of Saint Augustine's University came home last week. The University received a grant from the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) program at the National Park Service to restore the windows and the pews in the ca. 1895 chapel. The chapel, the oldest extant building on the campus, is a Raleigh Historic Landmark and a contributing resource in the University's National Register historic district. It was built by students using stone quarried on the site. The condition of the windows had deteriorated over the course of over a century. Some panes were cracked or broken, metal supports had weakened, and wooden frames needed reinforcement. The windows needing the greatest attention were taken off-site by Epiphany Studios for intervention. Those windows were reinstalled in the chapel last week and minor repairs on the reminder of the windows and the installation of protective glazing will continue into June. After the windows have been restored, work will begin on rehabilitating the chapel pews.

The success of the project has rested on the strong collaboration among the administration of St. Augustine's, the National Park Service, the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office, and the Raleigh Historic Development Commission. Hanbury Preservation Consulting has served as a project manager for the grant.

“The University is extremely grateful for the National Park Service for the grant. This chapel is one of the most beautiful sacred spaces in North Carolina. This award allows us to preserve its beauty for students, alumni and the entire community,” said Reverend Hershey Mallette Stephens, Dean of the Chapel and Chaplain. “Our chapel is an icon of SAU’s rich history. It symbolizes the faith of those who came before us and the hope of the students learning at this great institution today.”


May 12, 2020

Courtland Historic District Designated

Courtland, originally known as Jerusalem, the seat of Southampton County was settled in the mid 18th century along the north side of the Nottoway River. The quiet courthouse town was thrust into the national spotlight with Nat Turner’s rebellion, a slave uprising in the surrounding county in 1831. Planters fled to the town and the state militia used a local tavern as their command center. The trial and its aftermath resulted in legislation across the south, further restricting movement, assembly, and education of African Americans. In the post war period, expanded transportation networks, notably the arrival of the Atlantic and Danville Railroad in 1888, spurred growth in industry especially processing and distribution of agricultural products including peanuts, the region's primary crop.

The 135 acre district includes a commercial core, town and county government buildings including a courthouse and jail, two schools, churches, cemeteries and residences with architectural styles ranging from Federal to Italianate, Victorian, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Craftsman, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, and Ranch.

The district was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in December 2019 and on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2020. Hanbury Preservation Consulting and the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research surveyed the district and prepared the nomination.


May 12, 2020

CCC Resources in Babcock State Park Historic District listed on the National Register

The final of five historic districts in West Virginia State Parks and Forests prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting under the New Deal Resources in West Virginia State Parks and Forests Multiple Property Listing has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The area that is now Babcock State Park was heavily mined and timbered as early as the late 19th century. By 1908 the coal reserves were depleted and the land was sold to lumber interests including the Babcock Lumber Company which eventually sold the land to the State of West Virginia.

As part of the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt combined the creation of jobs to spur the economy with programs to invest in public infrastructure across the nation. One focus of these programs was to create parks and recreation resources for the public. While the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), created in 1933, had an express mission to address broad environmental policies, it also worked to create public recreational assets. The CCC's efforts in Babcock State Park addressed both environmental and tourism goals. CCC camp SP-3, Camp Beaver, was established at what is now Babcock State Park in 1934, followed by Camp Lee SP-6 in 1935. CCC Companies worked on the administration building, dam, cabins, game courts, roads, and trails.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the park was threatened by coal mining activities both inside and outside of the park. Local opposition was quick, strong and vocal. When early plans were ultimately scrapped, an editorial in the Beckley Post Herald celebrated the protection of the park, with a note of cynicism--

When we exposed the proposed Babcock strip mining deal, we had no real hope that the people would actually raise their voices in protest to this raid on their rightful heritage...but for once they did howl, and their howling accomplished its purpose in one short week. The governor and state conservation commission were shocked up out of their well-padded chairs when telegrams and letters started pouring in from indignant citizens, civic clubs, garden clubs, sportsmen's organizations, Chambers of Commerce, and other aroused bodies, and the net result was that the commission withdrew its vicious order and Babcock State Park is saved from the strippers, at least until after next election.


Mar 3, 2020

Warren Place Listed on the National Register

Built for James Henry Stephenson and his family by prolific local architect and builder Ralph Henry Stanford, Warren Place is an outstanding example of Queen Anne style architecture in Northampton County, North Carolina.

Though he was a prolific local builder, Ralph Henry Stanford (1870-1959) is little known. He grew up in Person County, North Carolina. By 1905 he was living in Northampton County, North Carolina where he lived for most of his professional life. His design for Warren Place typifies many of the design attributes of the Queen Anne style. The complex roof with cross-gables and steeply pitched hips contributes to the asymmetrical massing of the house, as does the low corner turret, and the wraparound porch with its turreted corner room. The interruption of the exterior wall planes, typical of the style, is achieved with cutaway bays, the second story inset balcony, and the pedimented gables. While the interior plan is somewhat symmetrical, it does have a grand stair, large rooms and extensive wood paneling, hallmarks of the Queen Anne style.

While other houses in Northampton County have some aspects of the style, none of them have the degree of sophistication Warren Place achieves, making it arguably the finest example of residential Queen Anne style architecture in the county.

It was listed on the National Register in December 2019.


Jan 9, 2020

Ellington Designated

Built in 1839, the brick Greek Revival dwelling known as Ellington stands alongside a contemporary brick schoolhouse on a 125.7-acre property. Information about the construction of buildings on the property is unusually well documented through a journal kept by the property owner, Rev. Thomas H. Fox. The design of his schoolhouse may reflect trends in early nineteenth-century educational practices promulgated by English innovators, Dr. Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster. The “Fox School” was in operation from 1840 until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. Developments in transportation made the Ellington a convenient location for the school, attended by day students and boarders.

During the Overland Campaign of May 1864, importance of the adjacent Chesterfield Bridge would be underscored as one of a handful of crossings that Confederate forces defended against the advance of the Army of the Potomac after the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Although Gen. Robert E. Lee established his main fortified line slightly farther to the south, his forces constructed a forward line of earthworks across the Fox property between the house and the river. While the Union II Corps advanced on the bridge on May 23, the Fox house served as a Confederate corps headquarters and came under intense artillery fire. After the battle, the house and school survived occupation and vandalism by Union troops.

Recently purchased by the American Battlefield Trust, the property is slated for preservation. Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the National Register nomination in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research and the property was listed on the National Register in November 2019.


Jan 7, 2020

St. Ambrose Episcopal Church Designated

St. Ambrose Episcopal Church houses the second oldest African-American Episcopal church in the state of North Carolina. It has its roots in the denomination's outreach to newly emancipated communities by the Freedman's Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church through St. Augustine's Normal and Collegiate Institute, now St. Augustine's University. The church, originally known as St. Augustine's Church, was founded in February 1868. The church was re-named St. Ambrose in 1896 at the suggestion of diocesan Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire reflecting the close relationship with the school from whence it started, like the relationship between Saints Ambrose and Augustine.

After the church left the St Augustine's campus, a Carpenter Gothic building, later demolished, housed the congregation at two locations closer to Raleigh's downtown. However by 1961 the congregation had purchased a suburban parcel for a new building designed by prolific Raleigh architect Lief Valand. Valand's design for St Ambrose was a departure from traditional styles of church architecture. Its complex was decidedly modern in a number of ways. By having flexible support spaces for education, meetings, and programming, and by designing the complex to easily accommodate later additions, it responded to a new concept of church that expanded beyond a space for worship to a larger campus for education and outreach. The site on a large suburban lot provided parking capacity for an expanded range of activities and addressed the demands of the growing car culture. And its A-frame form and use of new materials and construction methods further defined its modernity.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the nomination pro bono in celebration of the church's 150th Anniversary. It was listed on the National Register in December 2019.


Nov 11, 2019

South Mountain Battlefield Public Consensus Building Plan Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting, working in association with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research has completed the South Mountain Battlefield Public Consensus Building Plan. The plan was sponsored by Preservation Maryland and funded by the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service, the Frederick County Tourism Council, the Delaplaine Foundation, the Rural Maryland Council, and the Frederick County Community Foundation. The plan includes a historic context for the battle, an overview of preservation efforts to date, a review of the public participation from the study, and recommendations for future work.

The study can be downloaded here


Sep 12, 2019

Gem Theatre listed on the National Register

Cannon Mills, like many North Carolina textile concerns, developed a community around its industrial buildings. The town of Kannapolis included not only mill worker housing, but commercial and recreational assets as well. The Gem Theatre was one of four theaters created by Cannon Mills and operated under the banner of Towel City Theaters. Of the four, three remain. Only the Gem continues as a theater. It was designed by Charlotte architect Marion R. Marsh in the Art Deco style and was constructed in 1936. A devastating fire in 1942 destroyed the auditorium portion of the building. Reconstruction was delayed by shortages in materials and labor due to World War II. Architect Charles Benton of Wilson considered changing the style to Colonial Revival to match with the Williamsburg-inspired shopping area being built adjacent to the theater, but ultimately kept the facade and northern portion of the theater intact and added a new auditorium and stage area in a sympathetic Art Deco design.

Though the Canon Mills themselves have been demolished and the company no longer exists, its legacy remains in the town of Kannapolis itself and in the many institutions it developed and fostered including the Gem Theater. The Gem continues to show first-run movies in a magnificent, single screen picture palace.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have prepared the National Register nomination for the Gem Theatre.


Aug 26, 2019

Historic Macon Scenic Preservation Index

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is working with Historic Macon Foundation and the Trust for Public Land to develop a Scenic Preservation Index (SPI) for Macon-Bibb County. Modeled on the Trust for Public Land's greenprint process, the SPI will combine publicly available date from a variety of sources along with community input through stakeholder interviews, public meetings, and social media outreach to create a GIS based tool to map and manipulate data about Macon-Bibb's cultural, historic, environmental and recreational resources. An on-line story map and written report will augment the mapping site. The end product will be available to the public to help citizens, organizations and governments make informed land use decisions and to allocate resources more effectively. The project is funded by the 1772 Foundation.


Aug 26, 2019

Three West Virginia CCC Historic Districts listed on the National Register

Hanbury Preservation Consulting, having completed a re-survey of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) resources in five West Virginia State Parks and Forests, has been preparing National Register nominations for historic districts on these public lands under a Multiple Property Documentation Form. Historic Districts in Kumbrabow State Forest, Greenbrier State Forest, and Cacapon State Park were listed on the National Register this month. Staff at the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, and the West Virginia State Parks and Forests have provided invaluable support for the process.

The CCC was a New Deal program that provided employment during the depression. CCC workers created infrastructure in parks and government lands across the country including roads, cabins, campgrounds, and shelters, in a rustic style of architecture dubbed "parkitecture," that are still used and loved today.


Aug 13, 2019

Nevada Preservation Foundation Feasibility Study

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be working with the Nevada Preservation Foundation on a revolving fund feasibility study. The Foundation hopes to focus its initial efforts in the Historic Westside community of Las Vegas which was developed during the Jim Crow era, providing housing for African Americans who were denied opportunities to live in other parts of the city. The study will examine the feasibility of a revolving fund and Phase 2 of the project will develop a business plan.

Get more information about the Nevada Preservation Foundation


Jun 4, 2019

Abigarlos Designated

The house Abigarlos is located on the north bank of Tartts Creek, off the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Virginia. The federal style house was originally built ca 1812 for the Carney family of the eponymous Carney Farm Lane that leads to the house. The Carney farm was a large agricultural operation, a "truck farm" that shipped produce from docks on site and later created what became Coleman's Nursery, another Portsmouth landmark. The house was moved from its original foundation in the late 19th century and moved to at least one other site on the parcel and used as housing for farm workers before its final move to its present location in 1940 to a parcel inherited by Lucy Carney Warner.

Warner hired Portsmouth architect Mary Ramsey Brown to expand the house to include a modern kitchen and baths as well as a porch addition. Brown, later Mary Ramsey Brown Channel, was the first registered woman architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Denied admission at the University of Virginia because of her gender, she earned her architecture degree at Cornell and returned to tidewater Virginia, working with the firm of Rudolph, Cooke & Van Leeuwen before establishing a solo practice that focused largely on domestic and ecclesiastical work.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is particularly proud to have prepared the nomination for Abigarlos, having approached the current property owner's father to designate the house 20 years ago. The formal designation of the house on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places brings closure as well as recognition to a resource that is significant in many aspects for the Carney family and the City of Portsmouth.


Drawing courtesy of The International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) at Virginia Tech


Apr 12, 2019

Preservation Plan for the Veterans Administration Medical Center Hampton Completed

Working in collaboration with the William and Mary Center of Archaeological Research, Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a preservation plan for the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Once the site of the Chesapeake Female College, the land on which the complex now stands was used as a Union hospital during the Civil War. In 1870 the land was purchased by the federal government for Southern Branch of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Additional land was purchased in 1884 and a hospital built, shifting the emphasis from a convalescent residential campus to expanded medical care. The campus continued to reflect efforts to create a healing landscape with paths, plantings, and vistas to Hampton Roads. In the early twentieth century the campus grew with new buildings in the Colonial Revival style providing additional housing and creating streetscapes in a more urbanized sector of the campus. Soon after the complex came under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Veterans Administration in 1930, a new hospital was built in accordance with standards developed by architects and medical professionals. The current campus is an amalgam of multiple building campaigns ranging from 1850 to the present day.

The preservation plan includes a detailed historic context for the physical evolution of the campus, an inventory of current resources with photographs and written descriptions, a methodology for evaluating significance and integrity of individual resources, and a heritage management framework with, goals, objectives, and recommended treatment options.


Apr 3, 2019

Montana Preservation Alliance Study Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a revolving fund feasibility study with the Montana Preservation Alliance (MPA). The study process was designed and directed by Hanbury Preservation Consulting. The resulting document was a collaborative effort with MPA . At the core of the study were the results of a facilitated retreat, based on data from stakeholders, board members and staff. Also included were data supporting the preliminary needs assessment and preliminary program development predicated on the redevelopment of the Broadway Building, a project in process.


Apr 3, 2019

Historic Courtland Survey

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be collaborating with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research to survey a proposed historic district in Courtland.

The Town of Courtland, Virginia, the seat of Southampton County, once served as an agricultural market center for local produce and livestock. The two-acre courthouse complex was established in 1752, and the courthouse village, originally called Jerusalem, grew up around the complex. The Nat Turner Rebellion, a slave revolt resulting in the adoption of Virginia’s “black codes,” may arguably be the most notable historic event associated with the town. The arrival of the Atlantic & Danville Railroad in the 1880s spurred new growth. Much of the extant downtown commercial architecture dates to the first half of the twentieth century, constructed in the wake of a fire. The proposed district includes the courthouse and commercial areas as well as residential, religious, social, and educational resources.


Feb 7, 2019

Mill Hill added to the National Register of Historic Places

Mill Hill, though currently only a portion of the historic holdings of its builder, Ryland Rodes, contains a complex of domestic and agricultural buildings that reflect the changes in farming practices in Nelson County, Virginia from the antebellum period to the present. It includes a rare extant slave dwelling that, though altered, is a significant survival.

The main house itself has evolved, reflecting the changing tastes of its owners, however it retains hallmark Greek Revival trim and faux finishes. It shares with one other house in the county two distinctive features--an oversized, in-wall lazy Susan serving a basement level dining room; and a "lobby stair." The house combines stylistic features of a national architectural movement with regional building traditions.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have prepared the nomination.

 


Jan 11, 2019

A Decade

When my now 11-year old son turned one, I realized that while I still wanted and needed to work, I also needed a change. With the full support of my husband, I started a new venture- Hanbury Preservation Consulting. In the past 10 years I have learned more than I ever wanted to about the employer's share of the payroll tax, managing cash flow, and attempting a work/life balance. And despite some tough years early on, the firm has endured.

In the past ten years, Hanbury Preservation has completed a long list of diverse projects in 13 states, independently and in collaboration with others, including eight strategic plans for preservation nonprofits, nine National Register nominations, 13 architectural surveys, four revolving fund feasibility studies, over 50 compliance-driven surveys and evaluations, as well as tax credit, heritage area, and heritage tourism projects.

It has been a remarkable privilege to work with so many of you who care so passionately about the people who built this country, and about the places shaped by them. Every project has been an opportunity to learn about buildings and landscapes and history. And every project brings together people committed to stewardship and education.

I am looking forward to the next ten years and am grateful to all the partners and clients who have been with us for this first decade.

Happy New Year

Mary Ruffin Hanbury


Jan 11, 2019

Ridgewood North Survey Completed

For the second phase the Survey Update for the City of Raleigh, Hanbury Preservation has completed a survey of the Ridgewood North neighborhood. Platted between 1953 and 1956, Ridgewood was one of numerous residential developments built to meet a postwar population boom in Raleigh. The community was developed by Ed Richards who built numerous subdivisions in this period through numerous corporate entities. His impact and influence were strong in the mid 20th century and his role in Raleigh's residential growth is an area rich for further study. One notable aspect of the development was a series of speculative modernist housing designs by Raleigh architect Leif Valand.


Valand Prototype House, Photo Courtesy State Archives of North Carolina


Sep 19, 2018

New Deal Resources in Seneca State Forest Historic District listed on the National Register

The New Deal Resources in Seneca State Forest Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hanbury Preservation Consulting, drawing on the previous survey by Michael Gioulis, documented and re-surveyed resources associated with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in five West Virginia State Parks and Forests. Using the Multiple Property Document New Deal Resources in West Virginia State Parks and Forests by Lena McDonald, National Register nominations were prepared for each.

The land that is now the state forest was heavily timbered by the mid nineteenth century. In 1924 the bulk of the current forest holdings were purchased by the State of West Virginia. As part of the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt combined the creation of jobs to spur the economy with programs to invest in public infrastructure across the nation. One focus of these programs was to create parks and recreational resources for the public. While the CCC, created in 1933, had an express mission to address flood control, prevent soil erosion, manage forestry, and other broad environmental policies, it also worked to create public recreational assets. The CCC's efforts in Seneca State Forest addressed both environmental and tourism goals.

CCC Camp Seneca (S-51) was established in the summer of 1933. CCC Company 1537 constructed cabins, built truck trails, improved timber stands, and worked to clear fire hazards. Extant CCC resources include roads and trails, the Brushy Mountain fire tower, hikers' shelters, a picnic shelter, Seneca Lake and dam, and four rustic cabins.


Aug 20, 2018

Petersburg Battlefields Project Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research has completed a multi-phased project based on the battlefields associated with the Siege of Petersburg. The project included developing a historic context for twelve battlefields and the Poplar Grove National Cemetery; facilitating strategic planning with considerable public participation for the Petersburg Battlefields Foundation; and, with assistance from Studio Ammons, creating a regional tourism guide to the region's Civil War assets. This project covered multiple municipalities and was coordinated by Dinwiddie County. Funding was provided through the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service.


May 14, 2018

Raleigh Survey Update Competed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed an update to the historic architectural survey for the City of Raleigh, North Carolina. The scope of work focused on areas annexed by the city since 2006 and on neighborhoods that have expressed interest in possible designation. The survey team, which included architectural historian Penne Sandbeck, reviewed over 200 annexation parcels, updating 13 previously surveyed properties, and adding ten new properties to the state survey database.

Of twenty pre-selected neighborhoods, the survey updated records for eighteen and created new survey records for two previously undocumented areas. The survey confirmed the potential National Register eligibility of three previously evaluated neighborhoods-- Fairway Acres, Caraleigh, and Ridgewood. It added six, Brentwood, Gatewood, Longview Park, Starmount, Windsor Park, and Woodcrest, to the North Carolina National Register Study List.


May 14, 2018

Revolving Fund Feasibility Study for Montana Preservation Alliance

Since 1987, the Montana Preservation Alliance (MPA) has helped Montana citizens to achieve a diverse array of preservation initiatives. Through conferences and workshops, lobbying efforts, restoration programs, Preservation Excellence Awards and publications, MPA provides individuals and communities with the leadership and knowledge to preserve our past for the future.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be working with MPA to develop a feasibility study and action plan for a preservation revolving fund to be used as a tool in partnership with local communities across the state of Montana.


Jan 23, 2018

Strategic Planning for the Olmsted Parks Conservancy

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have completed a strategic planning process for Louisville's Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Since 1989, working as a partner with Louisville Metro Parks, the Olmsted Parks Conservancy has raised $30 million to fund park improvements in the Frederick Law Olmsted Parks System. The mission of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy is to restore, enhance and forever protect Louisville’s Olmsted-designed parks and parkways, connecting nature and neighborhood while strengthening the community’s well-being.

The strategic planning process included a significant assessment phase with public meetings, focus groups, and staff and stakeholder interviews. Peer organizations were interviewed to discuss best practices. Anonymous on-line board and membership surveys provided insight into operations and programming. The Conservancy board met in a facilitated retreat and developed strategic focus areas based on the assessment report with key objectives for each. The plan will guide the Olmsted Parks Conservancy's efforts in their continuing efforts to preserve, protect and promote the 18 parks and six parkways of Louisville's Olmsted park system.


Dec 14, 2017

Saxis Island Historic District listed on the National Register

The 353-acre Saxis Island Historic District encompasses the Town of Saxis and adjacent areas on a narrow peninsula along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Accomack County, Virginia. North to south, Saxis is less than two miles long and less than two thousand feet at its widest. The district’s flat terrain is less than 3 feet above sea level, with spare vegetation other than cultivated grass and trees, flowering shrubs, and small plantings.

Although remnants of colonial-period boundary ditches survive, the earliest extant building dates to the 1870s. By then, a transition from small-scale agriculture to the seafood industry had been underway for two decades. The seafood industry on Saxis boomed at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the 1903 construction of an offshore wharf at the edge of the shipping channel. Although the number of Saxis residents who continue to work in the seafood industry has diminished in the second half of the twentieth century, oysters and softshell crab from the Chesapeake Bay, Pocomoke Sound, and other tributaries of the bay remain an important local economic resource. The district is considered significant as a waterman’s community with an uninterrupted tradition of seafood harvesting since the mid-nineteenth century.

The district is also considered architecturally significant for its surviving historic buildings associated with the heyday of the seafood industry. The architectural assemblage is dominated by modest dwellings, commercial buildings, associated outbuildings, and a handful of public buildings (including a post office, a former school, and churches). Commercial buildings are largely concentrated around the town’s harbor. Along the town dock (a bulkhead constructed by the Works Progress Administration in 1937), a single pre-1965 crab house with shedding tanks has survived after hurricanes in 1999 and 2012 destroyed several others. The area east of the dock is dominated by mid-twentieth-century buildings used for seafood processing. The architectural heritage of Saxis is notable for its nineteen recorded cemeteries. Most are family graveyards, highly visible in the yards of residences as clusters of concrete burial vaults.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting managed a two phased project, funded by the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Program for Historic Properties, which included survey of 209 primary resources including the WPA funded town dock and harbor of refuge; and the preparation of a National Register nomination authored by Penne Sandbeck of Hanbury Preservation Consulting and David Lewes of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research.


Dec 5, 2017

Staff Retreat for NewTown Macon

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has expanded its work in Macon, Georgia with a staff retreat for NewTown Macon. NewTown Macon's mission is to attract, leverage and invest in self-sustaining transformation in Downtown Macon. It is committed to increasing downtown residency, growing jobs, and creating a sense of place. Through development, partnership, and promotion it has been a key factor in the downtown's renaissance. Hanbury Preservation Consulting led a staff retreat to identify and address internal issues, evaluate staff capacity given a new strategic plan, and develop consensus on immediate actions to affect positive operational changes.


Dec 5, 2017

Revolving Fund Study Completed for Madison-Morgan Conservancy

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has completed a revolving fund feasibility study for the Madison-Morgan Conservancy. Incorporated as Georgia’s first countywide conservancy in 2000, the Madison-Morgan Conservancy has grown into an effective and influential organization, serving both locally and statewide as a resource for protecting natural, agricultural, and historic resources, promoting the region’s local agricultural industry, and preserving the quality of life and sense of place found in Morgan County.

The study involved a review of the organization's current operations, membership and board surveys, stakeholder interviews, and a compilation of best practices drawing not only from preservation organizations but also land trusts and conservation groups that address the Conservancy's holistic perspective. The conservancy will move forward blending strategies from a diverse group of peer organizations and working closely with state and local partners to develop a revolving fund uniquely designed to protect both undeveloped land and historic structures.


Sep 8, 2017

Upperville, Virginia Historic District Resurvey and Nomination Update

Hanbury Preservation Consulting, in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research, has completed a re-survey of the Upperville Historic District and made revisions to the National Register nomination. One hundred and forty-six resources were documented, including churches, stores and homes. All resources were mapped and photographed, and a record for each was created or revised in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' survey database.

Extensive revisions to the nomination added an inventory and full bibliography, as well as extended narratives about the town's inception and development, its role in the Civil War, and the participation of African Americans in its history.


Sep 8, 2017

Hanbury Preservation Consulting completes survey of African-American Resources in Arlington

Hanbury Preservation Consulting, in collaboration with architectural historian Penne Sandbeck, working under subcontract to Thunderbird Archeology, a division of Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., has completed a survey of 600 African-American resources in Arlington County, Virginia. Part of a larger project, the survey included documentation of specific individual resources and extensive survey in two historically African American neighborhoods, Nauck and Arlington View. Both communities were destinations for former residents of Freedman's villages, displaced by the establishment of Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon

The Nauck neighborhood has had African-American landowners since before the Civil War when Levi Jones, the son of enslaved workers at Mount Vernon, purchased property in 1844 close to his wife who was enslaved at nearby Green Valley Manor. In 1874, John D. Nauck, Jr., a German immigrant, bought 46 acres and began subdividing the land. He sold these properties primarily to African Americans. In addition to residences, the neighborhood is home to many churches, social institutions and African-American owned businesses. Arlington View was established in the 1880’s. Robert Johnston, a former slave owner turned advocate for African Americans, owned property nearby and sold portions of his land to displaced African Americans for residential lots and for the Mount Zion Baptist Church. Both neighborhoods contain a considerable collection of World War II era housing.


Sep 8, 2017

First Baptist Church, Williamsburg added to the National Register of Historic Places

First Baptist Church in Williamsburg is significant for its social history as well as its architectural history. The congregation is the oldest, continuously active African American congregation in the United States, established in the 1770s. Despite religious and racial discrimination, the congregation has consistently and actively advocated for expanded opportunities for African Americans. It housed a school operated by Quakers in the post Civil War era. In the 1870s its minister was elected to statewide office. The church was integrally involved in the activities of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, hosting the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and protesting local unfair hiring practices.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Rockefeller-funded restoration of Williamsburg involved the demolition and removal of post-eighteenth-century buildings, including First Baptist's 1856 sanctuary, to recreate a colonial townscape within a roughly 120 acre area along the city's main street. The Foundation offered the congregation a new site, outside the restored area, with sufficient funding to build a new church. The congregation selected Norfolk architect Bernard Spigel to design the church. Not known for his ecclesiastical work, Spigel's design borrowed heavily from his recent commission for an African American congregation in nearby Suffolk. The Foundation's influence extended to the design of the new church, as Spigel adopted an architectural vocabulary that included compass-headed windows, a Chippendale railing at the tower, and a tawny beige paint scheme for the external wood trim that is ubiquitous in Colonial Williamsburg.

The National Register nomination was co-authored by David Lewes of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research and Mary Ruffin Hanbury of Hanbury Preservation Consulting.


Aug 8, 2017

Grace Church, Kimarnock added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Grace Episcopal Church complex illustrates a century of Episcopal church architecture in Virginia through its two primary worship spaces--the Gothic Revival chapel, formerly Grace Church, and the current Grace Church in the Colonial Revival Style by architect Milton Grigg. The juxtaposition of the two buildings provides a strong contrast and shows not only the growth of the congregation but changes in architectural expression of this parish which has its roots in the Georgian Christ Church (1732-35). The chapel was moved on the property in 1958 and its preservation through relocation contributes to its significance of the complex as a whole.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have prepared the nomination.


Jun 8, 2017

Berry O’Kelly Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The Berry O'Kelly Historic District, composed of St. James African American Episcopal Church, Berry O' Kelly's grave, and the remaining buildings associated with the Berry O'Kelly School, constitute the institutional core of the Method community, a settlement of free African Americans established shortly after the Civil War. O'Kelly was born in slavery, but through hard work and talent became a prominent businessman whose philanthropy was connected to both the church and school. He successfully negotiated funding from the Rosenwald program to build a school in Method and Julius Rosenwald came to celebrate it as the 4,000 educational building for African Americans in the south constructed with monies from his foundation. The district is significant for its association with O'Kelly, for its architecture, for its role in the Method community, for its association with the Rosenwald School program, and for its demonstration of trends in African American education during the 20th century.


May 1, 2017

Revolving Fund Study for Madison-Morgan Conservancy

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be conducting a revolving fund feasibility study for the Madison-Morgan Conservancy. Incorporated as Georgia’s first countywide conservancy in 2000, the Madison-Morgan Conservancy has grown into an effective and influential organization, serving both locally and statewide as a resource for protecting natural, agricultural, and historic resources, promoting the region’s local agricultural industry, and preserving the quality of life and sense of place found in Morgan County.

The mission of the Madison-Morgan Conservancy is to provide public education on conservation matters and to protect and enhance the heritage and quality of life of the residents of Morgan County by preserving historic sites, greenspace, farmland, and timberland.

The feasibility study will provide insight from stakeholders, membership, and peer organizations with established programs. Examining internal capacity and external opportunities will allow the conservancy to make an informed decision on how and whether to move forward with a revolving fund.


Mar 23, 2017

Berry O’Kelly Historic District Moves Forward

The National Register nomination for the Berry O'Kelly Historic District was presented and approved by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee. It will be forward to the National Park Service for listing. Stay tuned. This was a great project to work on with our colleague Jeffrey Harris and the Raleigh Historic Development Commission.


Mar 23, 2017

Hanbury Preservation to prepare nominations for New Deal Parks in West Virginia

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has been awarded a contract to re-survey and prepare National Register Nominations for West Virginia State Parks developed as part of the New Deal. Working from the Multiple Property Documentation Form for New Deal Resources in West Virginia State Parks and State Forests, Hanbury Preservation will work in Cacapon Resort State Park, Greenbrier State Forest, Kumbrabow State Forest, Babcok State Park and Seneca State Forest to update photographic documentation and prepare nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. The massive investment of infrastructure during the New Deal, and the influence of the National Park Service's rustic design projects are the basis for the significance of these sites.


Mar 23, 2017

Revolving Fund Study for Historic Columbia

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be conducting a revolving fund feasibility study for Historic Columbia. Founded in 1961, Historic Columbia supports and protects the historical and cultural heritage of Columbia and Richland County, South Carolina through advocacy, education, and preservation. In addition to maintaining historic properties and collections, Historic Columbia conducts research on local history, sponsors lectures and workshops, and advocates for the preservation of resources throughout city and county. The study will provide them with insight from stakeholders and membership as well as best practices from established programs so that the organization can make an informed decision in moving forward.


Mar 23, 2017

South Rockfish Valley Rural Historic District listed on the National Register

The South Rockfish Valley Rural Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This 1,620-acre swath of historic farms, agricultural landscapes, and small crossroads residential communities in northwest Nelson County, Virginia is a well-preserved rural landscape with a continuous tradition of farming in a circumscribed geographic area since the first half of the eighteenth century. The agricultural history of this exceptionally fertile valley chronicles the development of tobacco cultivation for international export from the eighteenth through late nineteenth century, the transition to a thriving apple orchard industry from the 1880s through early 1940s, and the present mix of cattle farming and experimentation with viticulture and cider orchards. The district has a notable collection of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early twentieth-century century architecture representing a variety of vernacular and more formal styles. Of particular interest are several late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century farmhouses with high integrity, including three that are individually listed on the National Register. In addition, an individually listed general store (built in 1908) anchors the historic crossroads community of Wintergreen, which included a succession of stores, mills, and schools from the 1840s through the early twentieth century.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have managed a two- phased project in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research, to survey and document the architectural resources in the district and prepare the nomination.


May 6, 2016

John Chavis Memorial Park added to the National Register

Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with historian Jeffrey Harris is pleased to announce that John Chavis Memorial Park has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located in southeast Raleigh, this park of currently 26 1/2 acres was developed in 1937 as a "separate but equal" recreational facility for African Americans. Built with contributions from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and with solid backing from the local government and civic organizations, the park is one of a few segregated recreation facilities built in North Carolina during this period with federal funding confirming the complicity of the federal government with southern Jim Crow policies. The park was named for a free man of color who was a Revolutionary War veteran, Presbyterian minister, and teacher.

The park was designed by G. Robert Derick, a National Park Service landscape architect, and it retains several resources that reflect the design movement in recreational facilities termed "parkitecture" that uses rustic materials. Despite the eventual integration of Raleigh's public facilities in the 1960s, the park has continued to be a focal point for the African American community in Raleigh.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting prepared the nomination for the City of Raleigh with assistance from Jeffrey Harris. Citizens of southeast Raleigh rallied behind the project and provided moral support and oral history interviews that strengthened the nomination.


Mar 10, 2016

Revolving Fund Feasibility Study for Historic Fort Worth

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have completed a revolving fund feasibility study for Historic Fort Worth. The study involved board and membership surveys and stakeholder interviews to assess needs, capacity, and perceptions. Interviews with other organizations that operate funds provided insight into best practices that could be adapted to Fort Worth. A facilitated retreat allowed the board to examine options for fund operation and strategies, reflect on feedback from membership and stakeholders, discuss metrics for evaluation, and consider next steps.


Feb 2, 2016

Riverside Farm listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Riverside Farm is a significant late Federal Style house with a farm complex including a nineteenth century ice house and large bank barn, in Nelson County, Virginia. Riverside's main house has sophisticated architectural features seen in earlier and grander houses in Nelson County, though executed on a smaller scale. The house has architectural pretensions beyond its size and purportedly the original owner's financial capacity. Construction of the house began in 1841 and it was significantly expanded in 1851.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have prepared the nomination for Riverside Farm.


Nov 18, 2015

Survey and Nomination of the Proposed Saxis Historic District

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the contract to survey and prepare a National Register nomination for the proposed Saxis Historic District, working in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research and architectural historian Penne Sandbeck.

Located on the Pocomoke Sound of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia's Eastern Shore, the town is surrounded by water and marshland. It retains a working waterfront and much of its history relates to the crab and oyster trade. Author Kirk Mariner states “Saxis entered the second decade of the 21st century (as) that increasing rarity: an authentic fishing village unspoiled by development or tourism…a place where making a living required hard work and ingenuity.”

The first step of the project will involve gathering architectural data for approximately 200 properties located within the proposed historic district. After the architectural reconnaissance survey is complete, a National Register of Historic Places nomination form will be completed. The nomination form will include a complete inventory of the historic and a well-researched statement of significance that describes important historic trends and themes as expressed in the built environment.

The project is funded through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources by a Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Grant for Historic Properties that the National Park Service awarded in 2014 to the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information about all the projects funded through this program, click here.


Sep 29, 2015

Quapaw Quarter Association Strategic Plan

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is delighted to be facilitating Quapaw Quarter Association's new strategic plan. The Quapaw Quarter Association's mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock Arkansas' architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing, and education.

Incorporated in 1968, the Quapaw Quarter Association grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s. Throughout its existence, it has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.


May 12, 2015

Hanbury Preservation Projects Highlighted in Virginia Stewardship Report

The 2015 Report on the Stewardship of State-Owned Property, a biennal report prepared by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for the General Assembly, reviews the progress and challenges of state agencies in maintaining the historic resources with which they are entrusted. Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have worked on three projects highlighted in the report--as a subcontractor to Hanbury Evans surveying resources at Ft Monroe in support of the development of preservation standards and a masterplan; for the survey with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research of architectural resources in the Ettrick community, includng Summerseat; and for the comprehensive resurvey of the proposed Piedmont Geriatric Hospital (formerly Piedmont Sanitorium) Historic District which included the update of exisiting records, survey of additional resources, evaluation of contributing status of resources and the recommendation for individual designations and revised district boundaries.

We are pleased and proud to be of service to state agencies, protecting the Commonwealth's heritage.

To view a copy of the report, click here.


Mar 17, 2015

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to work with Preservation Durham

Hanbury Preservation is pleased to be working with Preservation Durham to conduct a needs assessment. Through community meetings, stakeholder interviews, and surveys, Hanbury Preservation will create a report to reflect opinions about needs in Durham and where and how Preservation Durham's mission and programming meet those needs. The report will be the basis for a board workshop to examine the organization's current operations and make changes as needed to re align its work to address community needs.

Principal Mary Ruffin Hanbury stated," I am pleased to see Preservation Durham take this step. Many non profits run on autopilot and never make the effort to check in with their constituents and the larger community. Durham is not the same city it was even five years ago and as the city changes, Preservation Durham is taking steps to adapt to address new conditions and concerns. We are looking forward to working with them."


Jan 14, 2015

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to Survey South Rockfish Valley Rural Historic District

Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research has been awarded the contract to produce an architectural survey of the South Rockfish Valley Rural Historic District in Nelson County, Virginia. Historically a rural region, the district contains some of the county's earliest agricultural outbuildings, dating from the late eighteenth century. The district is shaped by the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rockfish River. Agriculture and transportation have influenced the development of the area as have the Scotch-Irish and Anglican traditions of its early settlers.

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to document this significant cultural landscape in Virginia in hopes that it will lead to increased appreciation of the history and resources that continue to shape it, and the willingness to preserve and interpret them for the future.


Nov 6, 2014

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to Facilitate Community Visioning Meeting

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to have been selected to conduct a community workshop for the The Julius Rosenwald School Foundation of Northumberland County. The foundation is the steward of the Julius Rosenwald High School in Reedville, Virginia. This school was one of over 5,000 schools built for African Americans in the south with assistance from Julius Rosenwald, CEO of Sears Roebuck. The Rosenwald Schools program sprung out of partnership between Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington and blossomed into a what the National Trust for Historic Preservation calls "one of the most important partnerships to advance African American education in the early 20th century."

The workshop, to be held in November, is intended to educate the larger community about the Rosenwald program and the history specifically of the Reedville School. Community leaders will then be asked to help create a vision for the future of the school by articulating community needs and considering uses and partnerships that will insure the building's continued use and sustainability.

The workshop is funded in part by a generous grant for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.


Jul 7, 2014

The Mecca Achieves Landmark Status

Today, the Raleigh, North Carolina City Council made official what has been common knowledge for years--The Mecca Restaurant is now a landmark.

This nineteenth century commercial building, within the Fayetteville Street Historic District, has housed The Mecca since 1937 when Nicholas Dombalis moved the restaurant from a nearby location. The building features period casework and booths with remarkable integrity. And it represents the path to success for many Greeks who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century, through the food service industry.

A block away from the Wake County Courthouse, The Mecca is a popular meeting place for lawyers, judges, and local politicians. The restaurant has had a remarkably long tenure and now includes the fifth generation of the Dombalis family.

Hanbury Preservation Consulting was thrilled to have prepared the landmark designation report for The Mecca. It is part of what makes out hometown special. Come visit on a Friday when the special is lemon herb chicken.


Apr 30, 2014

Hanbury Preservation Consulting Secures HUBZone Certification

Hanbury Preservation has been designated a HUBZone business. HUBZone businesses are organizations within Historically Underutilized Business Zones created as part of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997. The program encourages economic development in designated areas through preferences in federal contracting including a 10% price evaluation preference. Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be able to offer this benefit to its federal prime contracting partners.


Jan 28, 2014

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is SWaM-certified

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to announce it has achieved Small, Women-owned and Minority-owned (SWaM) certification in the Commonwealth of Virginia.


Jan 28, 2014

Hanbury Preservation Facilitates Charette for Baltimore’s PS 103

Working in collaboration with Point HDC, Hanbury Preservation Consulting facilitated a charette to explore further options for PS 103. The charette was sponsored by the Baltimore National Heritage Area and hosted by Union Baptist Church. Participants included representatives from Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Baltimore City Commission for Historical & Architectural Preservation, the Office of the Mayor of Baltimore, Baltimore General Services, Baltimore Development Corp, the Mayor’s Steering Committee for PS 103, the Upton Planning Committee, and the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks Office in Washington and Northeast Regional office in Philadelphia. The group discussed options for designation as well as possible models for interpretation and outreach. The charette follows a multi-year series of studies for the building and the implementation of the first phase of building stabilization.


Jan 28, 2014

Wythe County Survey Completed

Hanbury Preservation Consulting working in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR), completed a county-wide historic architectural survey. Three hundred and seventy six resources were identified, mapped, and photographed. Additionally for each resource a sketch site plan, a physical description and a statement of significance were prepared. Twenty properties were surveyed at the intensive level with added documentation of the interiors with photographs and floor plans. A scripted slide show and a written survey report with findings and recommendations were prepared. Hanbury Preservation conducted and directed all of the field work and subsequent documentation, wrote significant portions of the survey report, and created the slide presentation. Through a systematic process, the survey more than doubled the number of resources adequately recorded across the county outside of Wytheville, the county seat. A wide variety of resource types were recorded with special attention devoted to early log structures a rapidly disappearing resource type in the region. The survey products will be used by the county “for recognition and protection of important properties in short and long range land use planning, to encourage preservation easements and land conservation, and to help inform the public and serve as an educational tool. The project will support the county's heritage tourism and economic development programs, and will facilitate federally mandated environmental review projects.”

To view the scripted slide show, click here.


Mar 11, 2013

HPC to conduct organizational assessment & strategic planning for Historic Savannah Foundation

Savannah, Georgia contains a one-square mile National Historic Landmark District and 14 National Register districts, with notable architecture from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also has one of the nation’s most respected local preservation organizations in Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF). Established in 1955 with the purchase of the then threatened c.1820 Davenport House, Historic Savannah Foundation started a Revolving Fund which has since saved over 350 buildings and counting. As a recognized leader of the local preservation movement, HSF provides advocacy, outreach and education through creative programming and its award-winning museum, the Isaiah Davenport House.

The HSF board of 25 and membership of 700+ sought out Hanbury Preservation Consulting to help chart their course for the next 3-4 years by establishing new goals and objectives. Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be offering strategic planning services to the Historic Savannah Foundation.


Nov 16, 2012

Hanbury Preservation Consulting at Carter’s Grove

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be working as construction consultant to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee appointed for the owner of Carter's Grove Plantation. Carter’s Grove is the 1755 Georgian estate built for Carter Burwell near Williamsburg. Renovation financing is being provided by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.


Jun 2, 2012

Eastern North Carolina National Heritage Area Feasibility Study Posted

The DRAFT feasibility study for a National Heritage Area in eastern North Carolina can be found here.

Comments are welcome and can be posted online until July 1, 2012. Comment letters and letters of support can also be mailed via US Postal Service by July 1, 2012 to:

North Carolina’s Northeast Commission
119 West Water Street
Edenton, North Carolina 27932
Attn: Heritage Area Comments


Jun 2, 2012

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to work with Historic House Tours in Natchez

With funding from the Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative and under the aegis of Natchez National Historical Park and Historic Natchez Foundation, Hanbury Preservation Consulting will produce an assessment of historic house tours in Natchez.  Using Spring Pilgrimage as a model, Hanbury Preservation Consulting will examine numerous aspects of the tour experience including interpretation, preservation, and visitor services.  An assessment including an overview and applicable best practices and case studies will be prepared.


Feb 3, 2012

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to provide services to the Department of Veterans Affairs

Hanbury Preservation consulting is pleased to be part of an interdisciplinary team, lead by PF&A DESIGN of Norfolk, Virginia, that has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the Eastern Region, Department of Veterans Affairs.  Under this contract, Hanbury Preservation will serve as the historic preservation consultant for a broad range of projects for the next several years.


Jan 13, 2012

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to prepare Strategic Plan for Historic Macon Foundation

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to announce that they will be providing strategic planning services to the Historic Macon Foundation. Formed in 2003 by the merger of the Middle Georgia Historical Society and the Macon Heritage Foundation, Historic Macon Foundation's mission is “to advocate for Macon’s historic and architectural heritage, to facilitate preservation efforts in our community, and to educate and inspire appreciation for our unique city.” For more information about the Historic Macon Foundation, click here.


Dec 15, 2011

New Bern Historic Preservation Plan Adopted

On December 13, 2011, in a unanimous vote, the New Bern, North Carolina Board of Alderman has officially adopted the Historic Preservation Plan developed by Hanbury Preservation Consulting with Thomason & Associates and Fulton Forde.  The product of over a year of effort by the consulting team, planning staff and the board appointed steering committee, the plan was driven by public participation.  It focuses on goals that include protecting New Bern’s historic resources, expanding designation, recognition and participation to include more diversity and indentifying and increasing resources for preservation while building capacity amongst partners among others.  The plan has forty five recommended actions that invite broad participation by the larger preservation community within the city.


Nov 28, 2011

Hanbury Preservation to Collaborate on The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area Management Plan

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to be a part of the interdisciplinary team led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation selected to develop a Management Plan for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The heritage area is composed of eighteen counties in Northwest Mississippi defined by the Mississippi River and its alluvial plain.  Rich in heritage, its resources tell the stories of agriculture, the Civil War, Civil Rights and the Blues and Rock and Roll, among others.  Over the next two years Hanbury Preservation Consulting will be focusing on stewardship and interpretation of resources within the heritage area.  Hanbury Preservation is proud to be working with the National Trust, Point Heritage Development, Augie Carlino, the Walker Collaborative, Third Coast Design Studio, Black Orchid Designs and  Delta Center for Culture and Learning in the region cited by the National Park Service as the “cradle of American culture.”


Oct 21, 2011

Hanbury to keynote 2011 East Tennessee Preservation Conference

Mary Ruffin Hanbury will deliver the keynote lecture, Relying on the Past to Plan for an Uncertain Future, on Saturday November 12 in Jonesborough, Tennessee. For more information about the conference, go to http://www.heritageall.org/docs/downloads/ETPABrochure.pdf


Oct 12, 2011

Hanbury Preservation to conduct Strategic Planning for Preservation Kentucky

Hanbury Preservation Consulting is pleased to announce it will be facilitating strategic planning for Preservation Kentucky. Using a model developed specifically for historic preservation non profits, Hanbury Preservation will be canvassing stakeholders, board members and the organization’s membership to develop an assessment that will serve as the spring board for a weekend planning session this fall. 


Aug 16, 2011

Cary Historic Preservation Plan Honored

The Cary Historic Preservation Plan, adopted in May 2010, has been recognized by the 2011 North Carolina Marvin Collins Planning Awards Program. Awarded each year by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA), the awards recognize agencies and individuals that have completed outstanding plans, programs and projects. The Cary Plan won an Honorable Mention in the category of comprehensive planning for a large community in North Carolina. The plan was completed by a multidisciplinary team including Hanbury Preservation Consulting in collaboration with Thomason and Associates, the Walker Collaborative, and Russ Stephenson, AIA.


Jun 1, 2011

Virginia Armories Survey Project Commences

Hanbury Preservation Consulting will be working in collaboration with the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research this summer to document National Guard Armories in Virginia to assess their significance in advance of renovations. Twenty two armories from Clifton Forge to Fredericksburg will be intensively surveyed, documented and evaluated.


Jan 14, 2011

Hanbury Preservation to Provide Board Training for Preservation Kentucky

This winter, Mary Ruffin Hanbury will be providing board training for Preservation Kentucky. The training will include best practices for board and staff relationships and roles, effective meetings and board recruitment. Mary Ruffin brings extensive experience and perspective as both as nonprofit staff and board member to the training.

Preservation Kentucky is a membership-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Kentucky's historic and prehistoric places through education and advocacy. Since 1988 It has been committed to preserving vestiges of all Kentuckians' past - from shotgun houses in Louisville to African American rural communities across the state to roadside architecture, such as the Parkette Drive-In in Lexington, to important prehistoric archeological sites.
http://www.preservationkentucky.org/


Dec 16, 2010

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to prepare New Bern Historic Preservation Plan

Hanbury Preservation Consulting has been chosen to prepare a historic preservation plan for the city of New Bern, North Carolina. Working with Thomason & Associates and Fulton Forde, Hanbury Preservation will be responsible for developing a plan that will establish a city-wide vision for preservation as well as supporting goals, policies, and implementation strategies. Established in 1710 by settlers under Baron Christoph von Graffenried, New Bern is the second oldest city in the State of North Carolina and once served as the state capitol. Learn more...


Oct 27, 2010

Hanbury Joins North Carolina State Capitol Foundation

Mary Ruffin Hanbury was one of six new members appointed to the Board of the North Carolina State Capitol Foundation on October 18. The foundation was established to raise awareness and funds to further educational opportunities and to encourage the continual restoration and interpretation of the historic State Capitol. Designed by A. J. Davis to replace the state house that burned on this site in 1831, the State Capitol housed all of North Carolina’s state government until 1888. The governor’s office remains in the building and over 100,000 visitors tour the National Historic Landmark annually.

Sep 13, 2010

Hanbury Preservation Consulting to Lead Eastern NC Heritage Tourism & National Heritage Area Effort

Hanbury Preservation Consulting will lead a team that includes the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Heritage Tourism Program, Point Heritage Development, Augie Carlino, and Black Orchid Designs in a multi-phased heritage tourism project. Over an eighteen month period, the team will create a multi-county heritage tourism database, will evaluate selected heritage tourism sites, provide recommendations for enhancing the visitor experience, assess current heritage tourism marketing, and develop a feasibility study for a National Heritage Area designation for the region. The project is funded by the Golden Leaf Foundation and sponsored by NC’s Northeast Commission, NC’s Eastern Region, and NC’s Southeast and local tourism officials. For more information, go to http://www.ncnortheast.info/news/pdfs/Heritage%20Tourism%20Hanbury.pdf


Jun 22, 2010

New Jersey Heritage Tourism Plan Adopted

On Friday June 18, 2010 the New Jersey Heritage Tourism Task Force unanimously adopted a statewide heritage tourism plan.

The New Jersey Heritage Tourism Task Force was established by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (P.I.2006,C60). The legislation directed the taskforce to “create a comprehensive heritage tourism master plan for New Jersey.” Working in collaboration with the National Trust Heritage Tourism Division and Hargrove International/The HTC Group, Hanbury Preservation Consulting developed the plan.

The plan is the result of a process that has involved working closely with the task force and its subcommittees to develop a series of recommendations and action steps to strengthen heritage tourism throughout the state and provide concrete steps to develop products; to market to regional, national and international markets; and to create management and administrative infrastructure to support the effort as it moves forward.


May 28, 2010

Town of Cary adopts Historic Preservation Plan

On May 27, 2010 the Cary Town Council unanimously adopted the historic preservation plan created by Thomason and Associates, Hanbury Preservation Consulting, the Walker Collaborative and Russ Stephenson, AIA. The year-long project involved working closely with town staff and an appointed advisory board and included numerous public meetings and workshops. Preliminary research indicates that it is the first stand alone preservation plan to be adopted by any locality in North Carolina.

Feb 10, 2010

Cary Preservation Plan posted for public comment

The Town of Cary, North Carolina has posted a draft preservation plan on its website as part of a public comment period. The plan was developed by a team including Hanbury Preservation Consulting. It is the result of a year long process which has included workshops and community meetings. Public hearings by the Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Board will be held in March and April 2010, respectively, prior to action by the Town Council later in the spring. You can view the plan here.


Dec 18, 2009

Hanbury Preservation Consulting sponsors NC Main Street Conference

The North Carolina Main Street Center celebrates its 30th anniversary at its upcoming conference in New Bern, January 27-29. The theme is Downtown: The Key to Recovery and will feature keynote speeches by Doug Loescher, Jon Shallert and Don Rypkema. Hanbury Preservation Consulting is proud to be a sponsor of the conference and support the work of the NC Main Street Center. For more information on the conference and to register, go to http://www.ncmainstreetcenter.org/


Nov 2, 2009

Hanbury Makes Presentation at National Preservation Conference

Mary Ruffin Hanbury moderated and participated in a panel discussion on Thursday, October 15 at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The panel discussed the recent assessment of African American heritage tourism sites in Natchez, Mississippi conducted by Hanbury Preservation Consulting. The panel included: Kathleen Jenkins, Superintendent of Natchez National Historical Park; David Preziosi, Executive Director of Mississippi Heritage Trust; Alex T. Thomas, Program Manager for Heritage Trails, Mississippi Development Authority, Division of Tourism; and Darrell White, Heritage Tourism Officer for the City of Natchez.

The National Trust virtual attendee blog covered the session and can be found at http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/training/npc/2009-nashville/virtual-attendee/session-feeds/thursday.html

Copies of the powerpoints for the panel can be found at http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/training/npc/2009-nashville/virtual-attendee/session-handouts-and-presentations.html


Dec 31, 1969

CCC Resources in Babcock State Park Historic District listed on the National Register

The final of five historic districts in West Virginia State Parks and Forests prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting under the New Deal Resources in West Virginia State Parks and Forests Multiple Property Listing has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The area that is now Babcock State Park was heavily mined and timbered as early as the late 19th century. By 1908 the coal reserves were depleted and the land was sold to lumber interests including the Babcock Lumber Company which eventually sold the land to the State of West Virginia.

As part of the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt combined the creation of jobs to spur the economy with programs to invest in public infrastructure across the nation. One focus of these programs was to create parks and recreation resources for the public. While the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), created in 1933, had an express mission to address broad environmental policies, it also worked to create public recreational assets. The CCC's efforts in Babcock State Park addressed both environmental and tourism goals. CCC camp SP-3, Camp Beaver, was established at what is now Babcock State Park in 1934, followed by Camp Lee SP-6 in 1935. CCC Companies worked on the administration building, dam, cabins, game courts, roads, and trails.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the park was threatened by coal mining activities both inside and outside of the park. Local opposition was quick, strong and vocal. When early plans were ultimately scrapped, an editorial in the Beckley Post Herald celebrated the protection of the park, with a note of cynicism--

When we exposed the proposed Babcock strip mining deal, we had no real hope that the people would actually raise their voices in protest to this raid on their rightful heritage...but for once they did howl, and their howling accomplished its purpose in one short week. The governor and state conservation commission were shocked up out of their well-padded chairs when telegrams and letters started pouring in from indignant citizens, civic clubs, garden clubs, sportsmen's organizations, Chambers of Commerce, and other aroused bodies, and the net result was that the commission withdrew its vicious order and Babcock State Park is saved from the strippers, at least until after next election.


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