Regional Differences

[archieclement]

In another thread it was suggested preservation differs by region, which to some degree seems my observation too. It seems to be tied with commemoration as well. Also think to a large degree it also goes beyond just the civil war. Was curious as to what others thought, and reasons for differing levels of heritage across the country?

Would think finances is one possibility in two ways. One obviously takes money today to restore and maintain sites today. Two historical poverty aids preservation of the buildings surviving.

 

[Rhea Cole]

My dad was a mechanical engineer back when companies moved managers around all the time. Five kids, no two of us graduated from a high school in the same state. As a result, we wound up scattered all over the country. As a result, I have something of a perspective on regional historic preservation. I think that preserving an Indian War fort in Nebraska is a radically different thing from a 3,000 year old Woodland ceremonial site or plantation house in Tennessee or the place where Laura Ingals Wilder's sod house was in South Dakota. The site of a battle between Civil War era soldiers & Lakota in North Dakota is a hill. The basic principle of do no harm always applies, of course.

 

[archieclement]

My dad was a mechanical engineer back when companies moved managers around all the time. Five kids, no two of us graduated from a high school in the same state. As a result, we wound up scattered all over the country. As a result, I have something of a perspective on regional historic preservation. I think that preserving an Indian War fort in Nebraska is a radically different thing from a 3,000 year old Woodland ceremonial site or plantation house in Tennessee or the place where Laura Ingals Wilder's sod house was in South Dakota. The site of a battle between Civil War era soldiers & Lakota in North Dakota is a hill. The basic principle of do no harm always applies, of course.

I agree different things are preserved differently, but meant does the decision to preserve or not and how often differ by regions.

 

[John Winn]

In another thread it was suggested preservation differs by region, which to some degree seems my observation too. It seems to be tied with commemoration as well. Also think to a large degree it also goes beyond just the civil war. Was curious as to what others thought, and reasons for differing levels of heritage across the country?

Would think finances is one possibility in two ways. One obviously takes money today to restore and maintain sites today. Two historical poverty aids preservation of the buildings surviving.

Well, I haven't lived anywhere but the rural west in so long I can't really make a comparison to other places. However, in the rural west it's often not a priority due to budget constraints. Places with small populations and tax bases just don't have the money and many don't see historic preservation as a legitimate function of government (the rural west tending to be populated by folk with a strong Libertarian bent). We saw that play out locally when our historical society lost it's county funding (which the county could afford back in the days of a strong timber economy). At the time they owned a number of buildings that they maintained, one housing their museum. It went up for a vote and continued funding got soundly defeated; the museum was closed and the building sold. If it's a choice between schools or vital services and maintaining some old buildings the buildings lose out.

There's also just not as much in the way of physical historic things - e.g. buildings - out here as there is in many of the old states. That, of course, varies from place to place but it's generally true in the mountain west (the southwest, of course, having been settled way earlier). Thus, I don't think preservation is strongly in the mindset or tradition of many rural westerners.

The historic cemetery where I volunteer is a good example, too. It's owned by a city (itself one of the best preserved old west towns existing - but almost all privately owned) but they barely have enough money to keep the cemetery in operation much less maintain anything. All the maintenance - including most of the grounds maintenance - is done by a private volunteer Friends organization. We've also put up several structures, signage, and do all the preservation and restoration work on the markers (which is what I do). While the town is a tourist attraction and it's old buildings - and the cemetery - are a large part of the attraction it's still a very small town and people aren't willing to pay a lot of taxes. They're currently having a hard time keeping the fire department in operation.

Maybe it's the same in eastern rural areas; don't know. It's certainly been the case in all the places I've lived (three western states).

 

[archieclement]

Well, I haven't lived anywhere but the rural west in so long I can't really make a comparison to other places. However, in the rural west it's often not a priority due to budget constraints. Places with small populations and tax bases just don't have the money and many don't see historic preservation as a legitimate function of government (the rural west tending to be populated by folk with a strong Libertarian bent). We saw that play out locally when our historical society lost it's county funding (which the county could afford back in the days of a strong timber economy). At the time they owned a number of buildings that they maintained, one housing their museum. It went up for a vote and continued funding got soundly defeated; the museum was closed and the building sold. If it's a choice between schools or vital services and maintaining some old buildings the buildings lose out.

There's also just not as much in the way of physical historic things - e.g. buildings - out here as there is in many of the old states. That, of course, varies from place to place but it's generally true in the mountain west (the southwest, of course, having been settled way earlier). Thus, I don't think preservation is strongly in the mindset or tradition of many rural westerners.

The historic cemetery where I volunteer is a good example, too. It's owned by a city (itself one of the best preserved old west towns existing - but almost all privately owned) but they barely have enough money to keep the cemetery in operation much less maintain anything. All the maintenance - including most of the grounds maintenance - is done by a private volunteer Friends organization. We've also put up several structures, signage, and do all the preservation and restoration work on the markers (which is what I do). While the town is a tourist attraction and it's old buildings - and the cemetery - are a large part of the attraction it's still a very small town and people aren't willing to pay a lot of taxes. They're currently having a hard time keeping the fire department in operation.

Maybe it's the same in eastern rural areas; don't know. It's certainly been the case in all the places I've lived (three western states).

Was curious between the plantation thread and one about teaching UGR, where surviving UGR station houses came up, about how much it differs by region.

Here of course many antebellum homes were destroyed during the war, but along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers there has been alot of stately old homes allowed to fall in disrepair and lost.