What is our purpose?
- Educate current residents about historical significance of the North Hill
- Connect New Castle residents to community involvement opportunities
- Market potential residences in the area
New Castle, Pennsylvania is similar to many other rustbelt communities. It is threatened by the demolition of unused homes and other significant buildings in the North Hill. As time passes and these houses remain vacant, there are more chances that they will be repossessed and demolished. It is the goal of Pleasant Hill Historians to retain these significant pieces of cultural history and public memory in the New Castle area and highlight the character of these homes for future buyers.
It is necessary to educate residents and city officials alike of the cultural significance of places in the North Hill and other areas of New Castle. Increasing education and awareness creates thought provoking community-wide conversations that lead into broader discussions of community identity. These community conversations help to retain individuals in neighborhoods as well as provide a certain intangible community energy where new potential residents feel drawn to. An open-sourced resource, like this website, will help to create the public identity of the North Hill. The North Hill Historic District is an aspect of New Castle that should be both protected, preserved, and valued for its historic and aesthetic value.
How will we fulfill our purpose?
- Develop creative storytelling content to aid in the development of a unified community identity in the North Hill
- Highlight significant buildings in a user friendly data archive
- Connect the North Hill Historic District Community with resources to increase community involvement
A well rounded website that is informative, engaging, and aids in the creation of a community identity is imperative to the Pleasant Hill Historians’ mission. A community’s ability to access historical research and information regarding their hometown is currently a privilege for some, however, we believe that it should be a right. By creating open access archives for residents, this website can serve as a resource for both the citizen historian, an interested resident, or a genealogical researcher.
What will be included on this site?
History of the North Hill
- Significant and demolished homes
- Nonresidential structures
- Scottish Rite Cathedral, Churches, Schools, Synagogues
- Metadata about structures
- Photos, Address, Architectural Style, Architect, Year of Construction, Original Homeowners (–1971), Section of Historic District (ex. 1A), Significant Families
Community Involvement
- Small businesses in New Castles
- Locally owned restaurants, businesses, shops
- Community involvement tab
- Voting registration
- New Castle City Council links
- Local events
- Volunteer opportunities
Market Homes for Rent or Sale
- Links to local real estate
- Homes for rent or sale
The mission of this website is three fold. On one hand, we desire to create an open source data archive for historians and residents alike. We also value the ideals of a cohesive community identity, which will be aided by the community development section of the website. Connecting individuals with outside resources in the community is vitally important to successfully completing our mission. Last, but certainly not least, we hope to connect potential new home buyers or renters to some of the open homes in the North Hill!
We are so excited about this working project and cannot wait to share it with you!