Historic Markers and National Register sites in Delaware County

A consulting company has been working with historical societies and house museums in Delaware County to develop recommendations in a Public History Study and Feasibility Plan for the 80 public history organizations in Delaware County.  Their recommendations are going to be presented in a public meeting next week (May 24, 2010 at the County Council Meeting Room, First Floor, Court House/Government Center, 201 W. Front Street, Media, PA, beginning at 6:30 PM).  The public is invited.

Among their findings:

• There are 56 Pennsylvania State Historic Markers, 76 National Register Historic Sites, and 9 National Register Historic Districts in Delaware County.
  
  
• Public history organizations control and manage 138 buildings on 31 historic sites.

That's a lot of history within a half hour's drive from your home in Delaware County.  How to find it all to be able to plan a visit?  

Pennsylvania State Historic Markers:  The State Historic Markers are the familiar keystone shaped blue markers with gold lettering that  are intended to "to capture the memory of people, places, and events that have affected the lives of Pennsylvanians over the centuries since William Penn founded his Commonwealth."  To find the markers located in Delaware County, go to the home page for the program, at http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_historical_marker_program/ , and then "Search for Historical Markers", selecting Delaware County as the only criteria in the drop-down menu.  The search result identifies each site by location, along with the date it was first dedicated, the marker type, the categories of history involved, and the actual marker text.  You can print your search result, and the head off some weekend to find each one of them, and learn about the variety of history in Delaware County, ranging from the early Swedish settlements in 1638, to William Penn's arrival, early churches and cemeteries, the American Revolution, Civil War and Underground Railroad sites, and several sites related to Martin Luther King, among others.  

National Register Historic Sites:  The process is similar - go to the searchable data base at http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome .  Plug in the state and the county, and off you go:  89 records containing the basic information on all Historic Sites and Historic Districts in Delaware County.  The record on each site generally has a photograph of the site, the location and some background on the importance of the site.  It looks like they are moving the records from an older system to a newer one - and so it is a bit clunky today as I try it.  Your mileage will vary!  If you get frustrated by the "new" system, try the "old" one at http://www.nr.nps.gov/.  The search result there has less detail, but it is a listing that you can print out and take with you if you wish to visit the sites.  If you want that result, then "export" the search results to a spreadsheet or word processing document that you can then print and use as your tour guide.  

Public history organizations in Delco:  One of the purposes of the Public History Study is to tie our organizations together, share resources, and produce helpful items such as this - a list and link to each such organization and their historic sites in Delaware County.  We have started that process by creating a website, calendar of events, list of organizations and sites, and mailing list, at www.dchpn.org.  Over the next few years as we help to get the word out, we hope to be able to add to the site, and see more joint events with other organizations in the county.  Delaware County is a living history museum, and much of the old has been preserved ... so far.  The preservation challenge is ongoing.  

You could spend a week or two exploring just the Delaware County historic sites that exist.  In a down economy, consider doing just that - explore Delaware County history.  It's close by, you support our local heritage, keep the tourist dollars in the area, and learn about the diversity of history that is all around you here in Delaware County.