Interpretation of the Landscape in Historical Parks


Book Description

A study of eight trees growing in Independence Square, selected to relate landscape and individual trees to the historical theme of Independence National Historical Park.
















Cultural Landscape Report


Book Description




Independence Hall in American Memory


Book Description

Independence Hall is a place Americans think they know well. Within its walls the Continental Congress declared independence in 1776, and in 1787 the Founding Fathers drafted the U.S. Constitution there. Painstakingly restored to evoke these momentous events, the building appears to have passed through time unscathed, from the heady days of the American Revolution to today. But Independence Hall is more than a symbol of the young nation. Beyond this, according to Charlene Mires, it has a long and varied history of changing uses in an urban environment, almost all of which have been forgotten. In Independence Hall, Mires rediscovers and chronicles the lost history of Independence Hall, in the process exploring the shifting perceptions of this most important building in America's popular imagination. According to Mires, the significance of Independence Hall cannot be fully appreciated without assessing the full range of political, cultural, and social history that has swirled about it for nearly three centuries. During its existence, it has functioned as a civic and cultural center, a political arena and courtroom, and a magnet for public celebrations and demonstrations. Artists such as Thomas Sully frequented Independence Square when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital during the 1790s, and portraitist Charles Willson Peale merged the arts, sciences, and public interest when he transformed a portion of the hall into a center for natural science in 1802. In the 1850s, hearings for accused fugitive slaves who faced the loss of freedom were held, ironically, in this famous birthplace of American independence. Over the years Philadelphians have used the old state house and its public square in a multitude of ways that have transformed it into an arena of conflict: labor grievances have echoed regularly in Independence Square since the 1830s, while civil rights protesters exercised their right to free speech in the turbulent 1960s. As much as the Founding Fathers, these people and events illuminate the building's significance as a cultural symbol.




Cultural Landscape Report


Book Description

Excerpt from Cultural Landscape Report: Independence Mall Although Independence Mall was only recently completed, an understanding of the decisions concerning its development is beginning to slip beyond living memory and the grasp of all who must currently guide the mall's future. In 1993 and 1994 a new general management plan is being prepared for the park. This cultural landscape report, which examines the history, intent, function, and significance of one part of the park Independence Mall has been written to support the general management plan. This report was undertaken to determine the national register eligibility of Independence Mall, and its primary purpose is to provide park personnel and planners with the information needed to make decisions about the future of the mall. To support this, a historic record has been assembled, and important concepts, designs, and features of the built landscape of the mall have been identified and evaluated. To understand the mall, it is important to make a distinction between the unquestioned significance and symbolism of the park as a whole and the mall as an individual place. Americans understand the meaning of Independence National Historical Park, and as visitors they learn about the role of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The three-block mall, a twentieth century creation, was not part of the history of the Revolution and the formation of the new nation, and it is therefore necessary to evaluate it on its own merit as a designed landscape. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.




Cultural Landscape Report


Book Description