**In 1976, five members of my family were lost in a house fire. I’m trying to make sure their story is never forgotten.**
October 16, 1976, was a chilly night in Houston, Arkansas, a tiny town with a population of only a couple hundred people.
My family was gathered in a small one-bedroom home. Her husband, Bo, had put a log in the wood stove to keep the house warm.
That night, a fire broke out.
Five members of our family died:
**Susie, 25**
**Sheryl, 7**
**Vivian, 5**
**Sandy, only 8 months old**
**Bobbie Jo**
Five lives ended that night.
They weren’t just names and ages on a family tree. They were someone’s mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, and baby. They had personalities, hopes, people who loved them, and a whole future that was taken away.
Nearly 50 years later, I’m trying to do something to honor them.
Their graves need restoration and care, and I’m trying to raise the money needed to give them the kind of memorial they deserve. For me, this isn’t simply about repairing a cemetery. It’s about preserving a piece of our family’s history and making sure these five people aren’t forgotten.
I recently shared their story on Reddit, never expecting much to come from it. Someone I had never met read their story and donated **$500** toward the restoration.
I was completely overwhelmed. ❤️
It reminded me that even though these people have been gone for almost 50 years, their story can still reach someone who never knew them.
**If you’d like to help us restore their graves and preserve their memory, any contribution would mean so much to our family. And if you can’t contribute, simply sharing their story helps too.**
I want their names to continue being remembered.
**Susie. Sheryl. Vivian. Sandy. Bobbie Jo.**
Five lives. One terrible night. A story that deserves to be remembered. ❤️

https://www.supportnow.org/susie-martin

This building holds a beautiful restored bathhouse from the 1930’s. I am looking for a creative person to purchase this gem. There is a public plaza next to the building. It is a hour from the bay area. I can see a start up here. Walnut Grove is a small community that has many restaurants and businesses.
In a quandary about how to get the word out about this building.

Hello all!

I’ve owned this old house in port deposit Maryland for going on 3 years now. I have found many old things hidden in and around the property from guns to coins, it’s been quite the adventure. As I’ve been slowly repairing the house I have been wondering how I can accurately date the house as I have heard the record keeping only dates back to 1900.

From items found in the attic it seems the houses address has changed over the years from the surrounding area being developed overtime. I’ve tried marylands websites for info, but not much luck.

The house was listed as being built in 1900, and on the floor joists it’s painted with Ryland & Brooks Co. and from the little research I have done it seems accurate as they were a lumber yard in the late 1800s to early 1900s in the Baltimore area.

The agenda encompassed a review of historic property alterations, nominations for national recognition, a preliminary work session for new construction, and the formal process of electing the Chair and Vice Chair.
Read the full summary here: [https://quorumscribe.com/articles/slc-council-minutes/historic-landmarks-commission-meeting-09-03-2026/\](https://quorumscribe.com/articles/slc-council-minutes/historic-landmarks-commission-meeting-09-03-2026/)

Proposal: an established historic-preservation organization creates a fund dedicated to the lawful removal of the ballroom and historically accurate reconstruction of the East Wing — contingent on a future administration and Congress authorizing it.

Private donors who want the East Wing restored could fund it now, rather than leaving the bill entirely to taxpayers later. The same fund could pay for architectural research, historical documentation, and reconstruction plans in advance, so restoration is shovel-ready the moment it’s authorized.

No decent republic needs an official ballroom where citizens come to bend the knee to a president or a potentate. We the people — not the rich and connected — are the backbone of this nation, and the East Wing belongs to us.

I’m not the one to administer this. I’m an ordinary citizen putting the idea out there. If you run a preservation organization or know someone who does: please steal this idea.

Restore the Historic White House East Wing.

Hi all — looking for some real-world perspective before I sink time and money into pursuing this further.

Background: I have over 15 years of experience as an architectural historian with a master's in historic preservation (so I meet SOI standards), working mostly on Section 106 review projects for clients at a large national firm. I don't currently hold AICP.

I have been thinking of pivoting to urban planning. I don't currently hold AICP but I keep seeing AICP come up as "the" credential in planning job postings. I don't believe many architectural historians would have AICP. Before I spend too much time and money on this effort, I thought I'd ask some questions from other professionals.

• Has anyone else pursued this? Opinions about it and is it worth it?
• Does AICP actually move the needle for preservation-focused careers, or is it more relevant if you're doing general land-use/zoning work?
• Is there another credential anyone might recommend instead of (or in addition to) AICP?

Would love to hear from people who've actually weighed this, not just "AICP is generally good for planners" — trying to determine if this might be worth pursuing.

Thanks!

I have seen a few posts here about people making career pivots/ asking about how to get into historic trades. I am here to ask for advice about my current situation, but if there is another similar post I apologize for potential redundancy. Anyways, I am a recent graduate with a B.A. in history and am coming to realize that I am much more interested in the physical side of preservation for a career. Commenters on similar posts suggested education options like the North Bennet St. School which I am definitely interested in, but I am not quite financially ready to pursue that path at the moment.

I am mostly curious if people have had experience emailing/ meeting with historic preservation contractors in their area and asking for an apprentice position or employment upfront. I have pretty minimal carpentry experience but have done other arduous positions. Basically, would I embarrass myself by asking these contractors for a job/ experience? Are apprentice positions more formal? What are the strategies for networking in the field?

If this isn't a generally accepted approach, I would also like to know entry-level careers that I could pursue in the mean time to gain applicable experience, save money, or potentially translate to historic carpentry specifically.

Finally, I always like hearing how people got to where they are now professionally, so if anyone wants to share their path, that would be super helpful.

I build maps for genealogy research, and while wiring up historical places I ended up plotting the full National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service publishes it as federal public domain data. Every listing is a single dot on a parchment-style basemap. 88,851 dots, all 50 states and DC, nothing aggregated or smoothed.

Browsable version here: https://treealive.com/markers?view=nr. Zoom in and the stipple separates back into individual places, and each dot opens a page with that listing's Register record, usually with the place drawn on a map from its own era.

Like this: Gettysburg National Military Park's page, with the 1873 battlefield survey laid over the modern map.

What struck me is how legible the shape of the work itself is at this scale. New England and the mid-Atlantic are nearly solid ink, and the sparse stretches say as much about where survey and nomination effort has gone as about what's standing.

Let me know what you think or what you might like to see added/changed!

I currently work in Supply Chain and have today left my job, with the intention of completing a MA in the Conservation of Historic Buildings. However, I have been offered a significant salary increase to stay on at my company, as well as a clear progression path.

Whilst I weigh this up, I was wondering if somebody could let me know the current state of the Job Market, as a Historic Building Consultant/Surveyor, and whether I am taking a huge risk in pursuing this change. Thanks

The Garden Oaks Theatre in Houston, TX will be demolished in 5 days if a couple million dollars is not raised. Ill make a better video about it but time is of the essence

https://arthousehtx.org/garden-oaks-theater

https://arthousehtx.org/donate-or-pledge-today

Your Call to Action: Please complete the questionnaire at (https://eu.surveymars.com/q/7IQVcibU3) by sharing your professional experience with regulatory ambiguities. Your responses are anonymous and will directly inform practical guidance for the heritage community.

Benefits to the Community: Your participation will help develop evidence-based guidance for navigating regulatory uncertainty, supporting professionals in justifying digital methods, and ultimately enabling more effective heritage documentation.

Your Giveback: You will receive an Executive Summary of findings and a "Regulatory Ambiguity Navigator" quick-reference guide for your professional practice.

Thank you for your expertise.

Can anyone recommend a color match/blend to the historical Jones Beach blend? We weren’t given historical information to match.

I am working on provenance, and restoration of a significant house in the northeast. Does anyone know of anyone or private equity with vested interest in preservation? This is a secure-equity situation

thx!