Hamlets, Houses, and Highways: Digitizing the Built Environment

Material Description

The Kentucky Heritage Council’s Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory (KHRI) includes unique surveys of all known historic buildings, structures, and sites in the Commonwealth, the earliest dating back to Kentucky’s prehistory. The KHRI documents the built environment of all 120 counties, from Appalachia in the east to the Purchase Region in the west. They encompass river towns and railroad towns, historic neighborhoods and courthouse squares, African-American hamlets and prehistoric Native American villages, coal mining camps, vernacular and roadside architecture. Every state has a federally-mandated State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) responsible for documenting and preserving sites of historical and cultural significance. As the Commonwealth’s SHPO, the KHC has been creating surveys since the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966. Their work gives future generations the opportunity to study the rich cultural heritage of the U.S. in the face of the ever-increasing expansion of urban areas, highway systems, and industry. Therefore, the KHRI documents not only Kentucky’s varied historic places, but also the effect of time and development on our built environment. Additionally, they document the migration of populations into, within, and out of Kentucky and the Appalachian Region through the dwellings and businesses they built. These groups include Jewish, Irish, Latin, Eastern European, and African-Americans. The surveys range from a single page to several folders and note the site’s location, architectural styles, construction materials, original functions, site condition, and much more. Survey forms often include supplemental documentation like photographs, maps, and architectural plans.