Dec. 17, 2015
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) will travel to Moorefield on Monday, Dec. 21 to recognize two of the 14 historic sites featured in the 2016 State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) calendar.
A presentation will take place at 10 a.m. in room 104-B at the Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College. Fort Pleasant in Moorefield, Hardy County and Corridor H, Hardy County will be the two historic sites recognized. The 2016 calendar celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The new calendar will be unveiled along with a certificate presentation.
“We are pleased to announce the publication of our 2016 calendar, which highlights 50 years of West Virginia’s contributions to the national historic preservation movement,” said WVDCH Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith. “The individual buildings and sites included in our calendar represent our state’s commitment to its historic resources.”
Susan Pierce, director of the SHPO added, “The calendar is the state historic preservation office’s annual educational publication, which shares information about our state’s historic resources and the programs that protect and preserve them. We are happy to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.”
Fort Pleasant, also known as the Isaac Van Meter House, is featured in May of the 2016 calendar and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) since 1973. Isaac Van Meter built Fort Pleasant as a cabin and log fort complex around 1744. This was one of a string of forts running north and south along the Allegheny frontier. The current building was built in the 1790s. The building received development grant and tax credit assistance from the SHPO.
Corridor H is featured in August. During the planning and development of Corridor H, the Federal Highway Administration and the West Virginia Division of Highways consulted with the SHPO and the public regarding potential effects to historic resources. The highway alignment was altered to avoid impacts to the Battle of Moorefield Historic District and the Old Fields Historic District. Effects to Willow Wall, located near Old Fields, and other individual farms in the South Branch Valley also were considered. Archaeological surveys identified prehistoric and historic resources such as the Reed farmstead in Hardy County.
For more information contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner of the WVDCH, at (304) 558-0220 or Caryn.S.Gresham@wv.gov.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
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