Historic Context and Kentucky’s Cultural Landscape Studies
The largest scale of contexts in Kentucky is the Cultural Landscape Studies. In the 1980s, the Kentucky Heritage Council devised the Cultural Landscape Study approach to help researchers find the appropriate basis for comparisons that support National Register evaluations. The Cultural Landscape Studies arise out of the observation that Kentucky has several distinct culturaltopographic regions and resources within each region share commonalities.
Two Cultural Landscape Studies have been completed, for the Pennyrile and the Bluegrass Regions, though the Bluegrass Region study is in great need of expansion. An outline for the Eastern Kentucky Cultural Landscape Study is complete, and bibliographies for the Ohio River Cities and Jackson Purchase studies are underway. This approach splits the Commonwealth into five geographic regions defined by geology, soils, and topography: Eastern Kentucky, the Bluegrass, Pennyrile, Jackson Purchase, and the Ohio River Cities. Each Cultural Landscape Study discusses the region’s history according to a standard set of historic themes: Agriculture, Architecture, Commerce, Education, Ethnic Heritage, Landscape, Manufacturing, Military Affairs, Politics/Public Service, Religion, Social and Cultural Activities.
The typical breakdown of historic eras throughout the state follows these historic time periods: 1780- 1820 (Settlement and Initial Development); 1821-1865 (Antebellum Regionalism); 1866-1917 (Postbellum Industrialism); 1918-1945 (Between the Wars); 1946-present (Modern Era).
Cultural Landscape Studies then split the Commonwealth into variables from which numerous smaller scale historic contexts can be developed. As noted above, the breakdown involves five geographic regions defined by geology, soils, and topography; eleven standard historic themes; and five temporal eras shown below: From this breakdown, one could study, for example, “Agriculture in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, 1866-1917,” though most historic contexts are more focused in nature, such as “the History of Educational Buildings in Scott County Kentucky from 1900 to 1940.” Smaller scale historic context narratives build upon the Cultural Landscape Studies Contextual framework. These contexts are found in various planning documents, like National Register nominations, Historic and Prehistoric Survey Reports, and the Heritage Council database of survey and compliance reports and nominations. Each source offers an opportunity to build upon previous work, thus saving time and strengthening the persuasiveness of the findings. The common thread binding these sources is that they each provide ways to compare similar kinds of resources so the significance can be recognized.
The preservation community has developed the historic context as a tool to discern the significance of properties. It is a narrative used to shed light on which historic properties are most valuable, and which treatments are most appropriate for the historically significant properties. Historic context narratives bring together relevant information needed to assess which properties are most valuable to us and which are the best candidates for National Register listing. The historic context serves a vital planning function.
Historic context for the New Deal in East Kentucky.
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
Sections 5 and 6, Bibliography, and Appendices4
Historic context for Prefabricated Housing in the Jackson Purchase.
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
Section One: Introduction and Methodology
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it
The following is a pdf file, you will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view it