Heritage Documentation Programs
Heritage Documentation Programs is a division of the U. S. National Park Service responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, Historic American Landscapes Survey; these programs were established to document historic places in the United States. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, written reports, are archived in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. In 1933, NPS established the Historic American Buildings Survey following a proposal by Charles E. Peterson, a young landscape architect in the agency, it was founded as a constructive make-work program for architects and photographers left jobless by the Great Depression. Guided by field instructions from Washington, D. C. the first HABS recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of America's architectural heritage. By creating an archive of historic architecture, HABS provided a database of primary source material and documentation for the then-fledgling historic preservation movement.
Earlier private projects included the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, many contributors to which joined the HABS program. Notable HABS photographers include Jack Boucher; the Historic American Engineering Record program was founded on January 10, 1969, by NPS and the American Society of Civil Engineers. HAER documents historic mechanical and engineering artifacts. Since the advent of HAER, the combined program is called "HABS/HAER". Today much of the work of HABS/HAER is done by student teams during the summer, or as part of college-credit classwork. Eric DeLony headed HAER from 1971 to 2003. In October 2000, NPS and the American Society of Landscape Architects established a sister program, the Historic American Landscapes Survey, to systematically document historic American landscapes. A predecessor, the Historic American Landscape and Garden Project, recorded historic Massachusetts gardens between 1935 and 1940; that project was funded by the Works Progress Administration, but was administered by HABS, which supervised the collection of records.
The permanent collection of HABS/HAER/HALS are housed at the Library of Congress, established in 1790 as the replacement reference library of the United States Congress. It has since been expanded to serve as the National Library of the United States. S. publishers are required to deposit a copy of every copyrighted and published work, book monograph and magazine. As a branch of the United States Government, its created works are in the public domain in the US. Many images and documents are available through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, including proposed and existing structures. Jack Boucher, former HABS/HAER photographer Jet Lowe, former HAER photographer National Register of Historic Places Notes Further reading "HAER: 30 Years of Recording Our Technological Heritage". IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. 25. 1999. JSTOR i40043493. "Documenting Complexity: The Historic American Engineering Record and America's Technological History". IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology.
23. 1997. JSTOR i4004348. Lindley, John; the Georgia Collection: Historic American Buildings Survey. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-0613-4. Witcher, T. R.. "Fifty Years of Preservation: The Historic American Engineering Record". Civil Engineering. National Park Service−NPS: official Heritage Documentation Programs website
American Revolution
The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from Great Britain, becoming the United States of America, they defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War in alliance with others. Members of American colonial society argued the position of "no taxation without representation", starting with the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, they rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them because they lacked members in that governing body. Protests escalated to the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island in 1772, followed by the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, during which Patriots destroyed a consignment of taxed tea; the British responded by closing Boston Harbor followed with a series of legislative acts which rescinded Massachusetts Bay Colony's rights of self-government and caused the other colonies to rally behind Massachusetts. In late 1774, the Patriots set up their own alternative government to better coordinate their resistance efforts against Great Britain.
Tensions erupted into battle between Patriot militia and British regulars when the king's army attempted to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The conflict developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War; each of the thirteen colonies formed a Provincial Congress that assumed power from the old colonial governments and suppressed Loyalism, from there they built a Continental Army under the leadership of General George Washington. The Continental Congress determined King George's rule to be tyrannical and infringing the colonists' rights as Englishmen, they declared the colonies free and independent states on July 2, 1776; the Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, they proclaimed that all men are created equal. The Continental Army forced the redcoats out of Boston in March 1776, but that summer the British captured and held New York City and its strategic harbor for the duration of the war.
The Royal Navy blockaded ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but they failed to defeat Washington's forces. The Patriots unsuccessfully attempted to invade Canada during the winter of 1775–76, but captured a British army at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777. France now entered the war as an ally of the United States with a large army and navy that threatened Britain itself; the war turned to the American South where the British under the leadership of Charles Cornwallis captured an army at Charleston, South Carolina in early 1780 but failed to enlist enough volunteers from Loyalist civilians to take effective control of the territory. A combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in the fall of 1781 ending the war; the Treaty of Paris was signed September 3, 1783, formally ending the conflict and confirming the new nation's complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of nearly all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada and Spain taking Florida.
Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of the United States Constitution, establishing a strong federal national government that included an executive, a national judiciary, a bicameral Congress that represented states in the Senate and the population in the House of Representatives. The Revolution resulted in the migration of around 60,000 Loyalists to other British territories British North America; as early as 1651, the English government had sought to regulate trade in the American colonies. On October 9, the Navigation Acts were passed pursuant to a mercantilist policy intended to ensure that trade enriched only Great Britain, barring trade with foreign nations; some argue that the economic impact was minimal on the colonists, but the political friction which the acts triggered was more serious, as the merchants most directly affected were most politically active. King Philip's War ended in 1678, much of it was fought without significant assistance from England.
This contributed to the development of a unique identity from that of the British people. In the 1680s, King Charles II determined to bring the New England colonies under a more centralized administration in order to regulate trade more effectively, his efforts were fiercely opposed by the colonists, resulting in the abrogation of their colonial charter by the Crown. Charles' successor James II finalized these efforts in 1686, establishing the Dominion of New England. Dominion rule triggered bitter resentment throughout New England. New Englanders were encouraged, however, by a change of government in England that saw James II abdicate, a populist uprising overthrew Dominion rule on April 18, 1689. Colonial governments reasserted their control in the wake of the revolt, successive governments made no more attempts to restore the Dominion. Subsequent English governments continued in their efforts to tax certain goods, passing acts regulating the trade of wool and molasses; the Molasses Act of 1733 in particular was egregious to the colonists, as a significant part of colonial trade relied on the product.
The taxes damaged the N
Thomas Stone National Historic Site
The Thomas Stone National Historic Site known as Haberdeventure or the Thomas Stone House, is a United States National Historic Site located about 25 miles south of Washington D. C. in Charles County, Maryland. The site was established to protect the home and property of Thomas Stone, one of the 56 signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, his home and estate were owned by the Stone family until 1936. Stone purchased Haberdeventure in 1770 and began construction of a new home in 1771. Stone's original plan was to build a small, modest home for him, his wife Margaret, their two daughters but before the house was completed, his father died and five of his younger brothers and sisters came to live with him at Haberdeventure creating the need for larger living quarters. During the 1780s, the Haberdeventure plantation supported about 25 to 35 people, including a number of slaves. By the time of Stone's death in 1787, Haberdeventure had increased in size from 442 acres to 1,077 acres.
Stone was buried in the family cemetery adjacent to his home. Descendants of Thomas Stone continued to own Haberdeventure until 1936; the house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The property was owned until 1977 when a fire damaged the central section of the house. Haberdeventure was authorized as a National Historic Site a year in 1978 and was purchased by the National Park Service in 1981. Restoration efforts on the historic structures began at this time but the house was not opened to the public until 1997. Today, a visitor center located at the site has exhibits on the Declaration of Independence and the life of Thomas Stone. Guided tours of Haberdeventure are offered. In 2008, the Thomas Stone National Historic Site ranked 344th among 360 sites where the National Park Service tracks attendance with 5,720 visitors. List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland National Register of Historic Places listings in Charles County, Maryland National Park Service: Thomas Stone National Historic Site Haberdeventure, Charles County, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust Historic American Buildings Survey No.
MD-470, "Haber de Venture, Rose Hill Road, La Plata vicinity, Charles County, MD", 10 photos, 14 measured drawings, 1 photo caption page, supplemental material HABS No. MD-470-A, "Haber de Venture, Main Barn", 1 photo, 5 measured drawings, 1 photo caption page HABS No. MD-470-B, "Haber de Venture, Corn Crib", 3 measured drawings HABS No. MD-470-C, "Haber de Venture, Tenant House", 2 measured drawings HABS No. MD-470-D, "Haber de Venture, Wagon House", 2 photos, 1 measured drawing, 1 photo caption page
George Washington Masonic National Memorial
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, outside Washington, D. C, it is dedicated to the memory of George Washington, the first President of the United States and a Mason. The tower is fashioned after the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt; the 333-foot tall memorial sits atop Shooter's Hill at 101 Callahan Drive. Construction began in 1922, the building was dedicated in 1932, the interior completed in 1970. In July 2015, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture, as one of the largest-scale private memorials to honor Washington; the memorial is served by the King Street–Old Town Metro station on the Blue and Yellow Lines of the Washington Metro. The station is located about four blocks from the memorial; the idea to construct a Masonic memorial for George Washington was first proposed in 1852 by the Washington area's "mother lodge," Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4. Funds were sought from Grand Lodges throughout the United States to construct a memorial Masonic Temple with a large statue in the vestibule.
Enough funds were raised to commission a life-size bronze statue of Washington in full Masonic regalia from a sculptor named Powers, living in Rome, Italy. The statue reached Alexandria in early 1861, just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, it remained on display in Alexandria until the summer of 1863, when it was moved to Richmond, Virginia. The statue was destroyed in the fire which occurred as Richmond surrendered to the Army of the Potomac on April 3, 1865. Plans for a Masonic memorial moved forward again in 1909; the proposed site for the new memorial was Shooter's Hill, which at one time had been considered by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson as the site of the United States Capitol building. On May 8, 1900, citizens of Alexandria formed the "Washington Monument Association of Alexandria", a nonprofit organization whose mission was to build a memorial to George Washington in the city of Alexandria. Little was accomplished in the organization's first few years of life, but in February 1908 the WMAA purchased an option to buy a 50-acre tract of land on and around Shooter's Hill and the nearby Alexandria Golf Course.
Most of the land on either side of King Street was subdivided into housing tracts and sold, with 25 acres on top of Shooter's Hill reserved for a memorial. The sale of the housing subdivisions paid for the purchase of the entire tract, with enough left over to provide for construction of a memorial. Within a month of the purchase of Shooter's Hill, the WMAA decided to build a park rather than a memorial. About 15 acres were set aside for the George Washington Memorial Park, while another 4.5 acres were set aside for a small memorial within the park. The new subdivision, named Fort Ellsworth, was platted in November 1908, public streets laid out; the park was ready for dedication on April 30, 1909—the 120th anniversary of the inauguration of Washington as President. Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 was asked to preside over its dedication. President William Howard Taft, Vice President James S. Sherman, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, Virginia Governor Claude A. Swanson, Virginia Lieutenant Governor J. Taylor Ellyson, the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Baltimore Mayor J. Barry Mahool, numerous other dignitaries attended the dedication ceremony.
There were several reasons why Masonic bodies began to build a memorial. The construction of George Washington Memorial Park sparked renewed Masonic interest in building their own memorial, but another reason was the safety of items owned or used by George Washington and which were now owned by the Alexandria-Washington lodge. The lodge had suffered several fires over the previous century, a number of these historic items were destroyed. Constructing a fire resistive building which would more safely house these important items was a major factor in pushing the Masonic memorial forward. In late 1907 or early 1908, Alexandria Commissioner of Revenue Charles H. Callahan proposed to his fellow Masons that, at last, a memorial to George Washington should be built. Callahan proposed the construction of a $10,000 memorial temple. In early 1908, the Alexandria-Washington Lodge formed a "local memorial temple committee" to research the costs and obstacles involved in building a memorial temple; the committee passed a resolution asking Joseph Eggleston, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, to approve the creation of a memorial temple and to assist in creating a national memorial association in which all Masons and Masonic organizations could participate.
On May 7, 1909, the Grand Lodge of Virginia called upon all grand lodges in the United States to meet in Alexandria on February 22, 1910, to discuss plans for organizing a George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association whose purpose would be to construct a memorial temple. President Taft, Representative Champ Clark, Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson, Virginia Governor William Hodges Mann all spoke at the February 22 meeting; the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association was formed at this meeting, plans were adopted to raise $500,000 to go toward the cost of construction and another $500,000 for an endowment and maintenance fund
Thomas Stone
Thomas Stone was an American planter and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. He worked on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777, he acted as President of Congress for a short time in 1784. Stone was born into a prominent family at Poynton Manor in Maryland, he was the second son in the large family of Elizabeth Jenifer Stone. His brothers Michael J. Stone and John Hoskins Stone had important political careers, his uncle was Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer. Thomas read law at the office of Thomas Johnson in Annapolis, was admitted to the bar in 1764 and opened a practice in Frederick, Maryland. In 1768 Stone married Margaret Brown, the younger sister of Dr. Gustavus R. Brown, thought to be the richest man in the county. Soon after, Stone purchased his first 400 acres and began the construction of his estate named Habre de Venture; the family would make their home there, they would have three children: Margaret and Fredrik.
Stone's law practice kept him away from home, so he brought in his younger brother Michael to manage development of the plantation. As the American Revolution neared, Stone joined the Committee of correspondence for Charles County. From 1774 to 1776, he was a member of Maryland's Annapolis Convention. In 1775, the convention sent Stone as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he was re-elected and attended for several years. On May 15, 1776 he voted in favor of drafting a declaration of independence, in spite of restrictions from the Maryland convention that prevented their delegates from supporting it. In June the restriction was lifted, so Maryland's delegates were free to vote for Independence. Stone had been in favor of opening diplomatic relations with Great Britain and not going to war, as he was not only a pacifist but a conservative reluctant to start a gruesome war; that same year Stone was assigned to the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation, he was struck with a personal tragedy.
His wife Margaret visited him in Philadelphia, in the midst of a smallpox epidemic. She was inoculated for the disease, her health continued to decline for the rest of her life. After Stone signed the Declaration of Independence, he took his wife home and declined future appointment to the Congress, except for part of 1784, when the meetings were at Annapolis. Stone accepted election to the Maryland Senate from 1779 until 1785, at first in order to promote the Articles of Confederation, which Maryland was the last state to approve, but he gave up the practice of law to care for their growing children. As her health continued to decline, he withdrew from public life; when Margaret died in 1787, he became depressed and died less than four months in Alexandria, Virginia of a "broken heart". Thomas was buried at his plantation home; the family's plantation utilized slaves for generations. After his death the plantation remained in the family for five generations until 1936 when it sold privately. In 1977 the main structure was damaged by fire.
The National Park Service restored it to its original plans. Habredeventure today is the centerpiece of the Thomas Stone National Historic Site, is operated as a museum by the NPS; the site, located on 6655 Rose Hill Road in Port Tobacco Village, opened to the public in 1997. William Stone – Relative and Governor of the Maryland colony John Hoskins Stone – Relative and Governor of the State of Maryland Annapolis Convention Peggy Stewart House – National Historic Landmark in Annapolis, Maryland, at one time owned by Thomas Stone Thomas Stone High School – Charles County, Maryland public high school Barton W. Stone – Cousin and prominent early leader of the Restoration Movement United States Congress. "Thomas Stone". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Thomas Stone National Historic Site website Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856 Thomas Stone at Find a Grave
James Craik
James Craik was Physician General of the United States Army, as well as George Washington's personal physician and close friend. Born on the estate of Arbigland in the parish of Kirkbean, County of Kirkcudbright, Craik was the illegitimate son of William Craik, 1703 -1798, an agricultural pioneer and landowner, his half-sister, writes that he was about six years old at the time of his father's marriage in 1733. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh joined the British Army after graduation and served as an army surgeon in the West Indies until 1751. Craik opened up a private medical practice in Norfolk and shortly thereafter relocated to Winchester, Virginia. On 7 March 1754, Craik resumed his military career, accepting a commission as a surgeon in Colonel Joshua Fry's Virginia Provincial Regiment. While with this force, he became good friends with George Washington, at that time a lieutenant colonel in the regiment. Craik saw a great deal of action in various battles of the French and Indian War.
He fought at the Battle of the Great Meadows and participated in the surrender of Fort Necessity accompanied General Edward Braddock on Braddock's unsuccessful attempt to recapture the region in 1755, treating Braddock's fatal wounds. Craik served under Washington in actions in Virginia and Maryland, during various engagements with Indians. After the war's end, Craik opened another medical practice at Port Tobacco, on 13 November 1760, he married Mariamne Ewell at her family's estate, Bel Air, located in Prince William County, Virginia. Marriamne would become the great-aunt of Richard S. Ewell, they had three daughters. In 1760, he moved to Charles County, where in 1765, he built La Grange near La Plata, Maryland. In both 1770 and 1784 he went on surveying expeditions with Washington, examining military claims in Pennsylvania and what is now West Virginia. With the outbreak of hostilities during the American Revolution, Craik once more rejoined the army, he served as an army surgeon advancing to the second-highest post in army medicine.
Craik warned Washington about the plots of the Conway Cabal, treated the wounds of General Hugh Mercer at the Battle of Princeton and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette at the Battle of Brandywine. Mercer died of his wounds. Washington persuaded him to move his practice to Alexandria, where he built his house Vaucluse, where he died, he had a town house at 117 South Fairfax Street, 209 Prince Street, 210 Duke Street. Washington summoned Craik out of private practice in 1798 in connection with the Quasi-War against France, installing him as Physician General of the Army on 19 June of that year. After the conclusion of hostilities, Craik mustered out on 15 June 1800, his grandson, named after him, would build his house Elmgrove renamed to the Craik-Patton House, on a tract of land awarded to Dr. Craik as payment for his service in the Revolutionary War; as Washington's personal physician, Craik was one of three doctors to attend on him during his final illness on 14 December 1799. Washington complained of respiratory distress, described by Craik as "cynanche trachealis".
When Washington proved unable to swallow medicines orally and the other two physicians treated his condition with bloodletting, the application of various poultices, a rectal solution of calomel and tartar. Washington's condition continued to deteriorate, but Craik and Brown decided against Dick's suggestion of a tracheotomy, Washington died at 10:10 p.m. Brown and Craik co-published an account of their treatment in December 1800. Craik died in Alexandria in 1814. Pilcher, James Evelyn.: The Surgeon Generals of the Army of the United States of America: A Series of Biographical Sketches of the Senior Officers of the Military Medical Service from the American Revolution to the Philippine Pacification pp. 21–24 "James Craik", The United States Office of Medical History, accessed 20 May 2006. Custis, George Washington Parke, Recollections of Washington "A Physician Looks At The Death of Washington", Vibul V. Vadakan, M. D. Early American Review, accessed 20 December 2008. James Craik, Office of Medical History, Surgeon General Letters of his daughter Helen Craik in "Farmer's Magazine - A Periodical Work Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture and Rural Affairs," published in Edinburgh in 1811
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the ex-British colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the rule of Great Britain; the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and volunteer troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war. Most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783; the 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne. This became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796; the Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies and, after 1776, from all 13 states. When the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army.
Each colony had relied upon the militia, made up of part-time citizen-soldiers, for local defense, or the raising of temporary "provincial regiments" during specific crises such as the French and Indian War of 1754–63. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the years leading to the war, colonists began to reform their militias in preparation for the perceived potential conflict. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of a colonial army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut soon raised similar but smaller forces. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress decided to proceed with the establishment of a Continental Army for purposes of common defense, adopting the forces in place outside Boston and New York.
It raised the first ten companies of Continental troops on a one-year enlistment, riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia to be used as light infantry, who became the 1st Continental Regiment in 1776. On June 15, 1775, the Congress elected by unanimous vote George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, who accepted and served throughout the war without any compensation except for reimbursement of expenses. On July 18, 1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from "all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age." It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of parental consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days. After Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place; as the Continental Congress adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, the role of the Continental Army became the subject of considerable debate.
Some Americans had a general aversion to maintaining a standing army. As a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, at various times during the war, standard enlistment periods lasted from one to three years. Early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army; the army never numbered more than 17,000 men. Turnover proved a constant problem in the winter of 1776–77, longer enlistments were approved. Broadly speaking, Continental forces consisted of several successive armies, or establishments: The Continental Army of 1775, comprising the initial New England Army, organized by Washington into three divisions, six brigades, 38 regiments. Major General Philip Schuyler's ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada; the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired.
Washington had submitted recommendations to the Continental Congress immediately after he had accepted the position of Commander-in-Chief, but the Congress took time to consider and implement these. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus; this army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a single battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies, with a rank-and-file strength of 640. The Continental Army of 1777–80 evolved out of several critical reforms and political decisions that came about when it became apparent that the British were sending massive forces to put an end to the American Revolution; the Continental Congress passed the "Eighty-eight Battalion Resolve", ordering each state to contribute one-battalion regiments in proportion to their population, Washington subsequently received authority to raise an additional 16 battalions.
Enlistment terms extended to three years or to "the length of the war" to avoid the year-end crises that deplet
