Thursday, February 25, 2010

Cultural landscapes


While Jon battles winter weather in a possibly foolhardy attempt to get to New York (when last heard from, he was on a train between Harrisburg and Philadelphia after his flight from Raleigh was diverted to Pennsylvania), Susan takes time out from her academic labors to think about cultural landscapes. A session presented by the Jaeger Company on the Reynolda Historic District was smart and informative.It turns out that cultural landscape reports (CLRs) are prepared according to a standard format specified by the Secretary of the Interior and are used primarily to assess National Park Service sites. The slide show that Susan saw is available on line. The historic photo of the Reynolda Estate was taken by the Aero Services Corp. of Philadelphia in 1927 (the link to Philadelphia is through landscape architect Thomas Sears, who designed the grounds of Reynolda). Reynolda Road, which links the Moravian settlements of Salem and Bethania, is on the left; the modern Wake Forest University lies to the upper right, behind the house and the lake. The lake (Lake Katherine, after R.J. Reynolds' wife) is now entirely filled in - a wetland rather than a lake.

No comments:

Post a Comment