23 Sep 2025

Loch Raven Veterans Administration Medical Center: Historic Context and National Register Evaluation

Abstract: This project was undertaken to provide the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Construction and Facilities Management Office, with a National Historic Preservation Act, Section 110, evaluation of the Loch Raven Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center. The approximately 14.85-acre medical center is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The Construction and Facilities Management Office tasked the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) with inventorying and assessing the Loch Raven VA Medical Center for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places through the creation of a historic context, a description of current conditions, and an analysis of those elements using the appropriate National Register bulletins. The authors recommend that the Loch Raven VA Medical Center not be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places due to a lack of architectural and landscape integrity of the complex; however, it is recommended that Building 1 be reevaluated for the National Register when it turns 50 years of age in 2046.

17 Sep 2025

Spring House, 666 Front Street, Lahaina, Hawaiʻi: Historic American Buildings Surveys HI-676

Abstract: The US Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural resources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to inventory and evaluate their cultural resources, and Section 106 requires them to determine the effect of federal undertakings on those potentially eligible for the NRHP. Lahaina is located in the western part of Maui County, in Hawaiʻi. The Spring House, erected circa 1823, is currently scheduled for demolition due to its major fire damages. This report documents the building to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey and includes a historic context, architectural descriptions, photographs, and measured drawings. This report satisfies Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended and will be used by FEMA to document the building before its demolition.

12 Sep 2025

Veterans Administration Fourth Generation Historic Context

Abstract: The period of significance for fourth generation of Veterans Administration (VA) medical centers ranges from 1955 to 1977. This period encapsulates a surge of VA medical center construction with congressional funding, dating from the release of the 1955 congressional report Nonbed Betterments in Veterans Administration Hospitals—Need for Renovation and Construction to the adoption of the Veterans Administration Medical Facilities Acquisition Act of 1977. New medical centers constructed by the VA during this time may be eligible under Criterion A for their association with health care and medicine, specifically the development of education and research relationships with medical schools. These partnerships advanced therapies, technology, and hospital operation in support of the VA’s mission to provide quality medical care for veterans. To support these partnerships, VA medical centers were commonly built adjacent to or within medical school complexes. Additionally, fourth generation VA medical centers may be eligible under Criterion C for embodying distinctive architecture or landscape architecture characteristics of mid-century modern hospitals or representing an important contribution in a significant architect’s career. This report provides a comprehensive historic context for the design, construction, and operation of new fourth generation VA medical centers in support of Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA). It does not include other VA medical facilities constructed during this period, such as psychiatric and rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, domiciliaries, and research and education buildings.

14 Aug 2025

Buffalo Mole (South Pier): National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

Abstract: The United States Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural resources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. This document contains the nomination form and all supporting documentation for listing the Buffalo mole (South Pier), located at the entrance to the Buffalo harbor in New York, on the NRHP. The area on top of and surrounding the mole was modified through the past two hundred years, many of the character-defining features remain including the stone retaining walls, talus, stairs, and lighthouse identified in plans and drawings from the period of construction. Notably lost is the stone tow path, or banquette, and the stone incline on the south side of the mole is no longer visible. The researchers recommend a period of significance of c. 1820 through 1959 since the mole has continued its original use of keeping the entrance to the Buffalo River open for freight and recreational boating traffic through the present day.

14 Aug 2025

Ohio Army National Guard, St. Marys Armory: Historic Buildings Survey

Abstract: St. Marys Armory is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion A for being constructed during the Interwar Armory Construction Program (1920–1940 era) and under Criterion C for its design of castellated, Art Deco, and Art Moderne architectural styles. This report documents the building to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey and includes a historic context, architectural descriptions, photographs, and architectural drawings. This report satisfies Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 as amended and will be used by the St. Marys Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG) for mitigation. This documentation fulfills Stipulation II of the Memorandum of Understanding Among the Adjutant General of Ohio and the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (OHSHPO) Regarding Disposal of St. Marys Armory, Auglaize County, Ohio.

23 Jul 2025

Mill Springs Mill: A History of Motion

Abstract: The Mill Springs Mill is found in south-central Kentucky, within Wayne County, a county bordering Tennessee. The mill, spring pools, granary, and recreation area are owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The site has run as a grist mill ever since its construction in the 1800s but has also been given other purposes, such as a roadside park starting in 1949 until the late 1970s and then a USACE recreation area. The mill is listed on the NRHP, while the grounds are part of the Mill Springs Battlefield which is on the NRHP and also a National Historic Landmark. This manuscript provides a comprehensive history for the features and buildings at the Mill Springs Mill.

9 May 2025

Mill Springs Mill, Kentucky: A History and Analysis

Abstract: The US Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural re-sources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to inventory and evaluate their cultural resources, and Section 106 requires them to determine the effect of federal undertakings on those eligible or potentially eligible for the NRHP or listed on the NRHP. The Mill Springs Mill is found in south-central Kentucky, within Wayne County, a county bordering Tennessee. The mill, spring pools, granary, and recreation area are owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The site has run as a grist mill ever since its construction in the 1800s but has also been given other purposes, such as a roadside park starting in 1949 until the late 1970s and then a USACE recreation area. The mill is listed on the NRHP, while the grounds are part of the Mill Springs Battlefield, which is on the NRHP and also a national historic landmark. This report provides a comprehensive historic context for the features and buildings at the Mill Springs Mill in support of Section 110 of the NHPA.

23 Jan 2024

Historic Context for the WWII Internment and Prisoner-of-War (POW) Compound at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

Abstract: This report provides a comprehensive historic context for the enemy alien internment compound and prisoner-of-war (POW) compound at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, during World War II (WWII). Through primary and secondary sources, it illustrates the development of the internment and POW program at the installation, the built environment, labor details, and aspects of daily life. Although buildings associated with the internment and POW compound are no longer extant, researchers georeferenced historic maps of the compound to create digital footprints of the demolished infrastructure. Additionally, researchers generated and analyzed lidar returns to accentuate the signatures of former building foundations. Together, these processes can help fieldwork investigators determine the approximate locations of former internment and POW infrastructure.

9 Jan 2024

Cartographic Comparative Analysis of Undocumented Farmsteads at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

Abstract: Government acquisition of farmland within the present-day boundaries of Fort McCoy is defined by two consequential events: the founding of the installation in 1909, and its expansion in the early 1940s to provide training lands during World War II. Since the 1990s, Fort McCoy’s cultural resources manager (CRM) has sponsored archaeological investigations to determine the eligibility of former farmstead sites for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Using geographic information systems (GISs) to compare historic cartographic sources, this project attempts to ascertain whether there are additional farmstead sites at Fort McCoy that may have been overlooked in existing archaeological investigations. Additionally, it provides a short summary of farmstead archaeological activity at Fort McCoy over the past 20 years, a brief historic context highlighting characteristics of farmsteads in the Upper Midwest, and a brief explanation of enhanced lidar techniques that personnel at Fort McCoy can explore for future use. Finally, an appendix provides a list of questions that may be used to conduct oral interviews with descendants of families who farmed within the present-day boundaries of Fort McCoy.

22 Jun 2023

US Air Force Academy Gallagher and Massey Ranch Houses: Historic American Buildings Surveys CO-237, CO-237-A, and CO-238

Abstract: The US Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural resources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to inventory and evaluate their cultural resources, and Section 106 requires them to determine the effect of federal undertakings on those potentially eligible for the NRHP. The US Air Force Academy is located at the base of the Front Range within El Paso County. The US Air Force Academy has been used for training US Air Force officers since 1954. The Gallagher Ranch House and its associated garage, erected circa 1953, and the Massey Ranch House, erected 1941, are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. This report documents the buildings to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey and includes a historic context, architectural descriptions, photographs, and measured drawings. This report satisfies Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended and will be used by the US Air Force Academy for mitigation, allowing for the demolition of the three buildings.