Historic Preservation


Bringing a Slice of the Archives to the Internet: the River Street Digital History Project

As a long-time historical archaeologist working in cultural resource management, I’ve been overjoyed to see how much archival information has been brought to the internet. I do not think there will ever be a day when a visit to the archives is no longer necessary, mainly because most archival repositories […]


Another view of the Pioneer Pathway, former Lover's Lane

River Street Digital History Project gallery

I’ve been busting my hump this whole week working on the website that will eventually contribute to my PhD dissertation project at the University of Arizona. It has been a long haul, but the River Street Digital History Project has almost come to a close. The River Street Neighborhood in […]


Fighting the fight for Historic Preservation

“Next week, next month, or next year we may have an opportunity to enlighten those groups [business interests and elected officials] on the cultural, social, and aesthetic importance of preservation. But if we want that historic building saved today, we had better be prepared with economic arguments.” Donovan D. Rypkema, […]

The fight for historic preservation creates livable cities

Introducing the River Street Digital History Project

Day of Archaeology 2014 at Succinct Research

As you’re reading this on 7/11/2014, I’m probably digging a test unit somewhere outside Glacier National Park. I’m actually on assignment this year and will be out of cell/internet range during the day. I’ll be working on an awesome possibly Archaic site along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, so look me up […]


Never forget: Historic preservation is what makes Seattle a place people want to live

My wife, kids and I just spent an amazing week in Seattle. It made us remember what we loved about that place: diversity, atmosphere, rapid growth, abounding opportunities, good food, great friends, and, above all, character. Seattle is definitely a trend-setting city. It’s a place where people of all walks-of-life […]

Historic preservation makes Seattle a great place to live

The demise of #naziwarhunters is one small step toward reclaiming the public’s image of archaeology

This week, the HISTARCH listserv and the rest of the blogosphere celebrated the crushing defeat of NatGeo’s poorly planned series Nazi War Diggers. As I wrote before, the show was basically a glorification of battlefield archaeological site looting with the added bonus of human remains desecration. It was an all-around […]

Stop archaeology site looting shows

Plan for blogging and historic preservation at succinct research

Blogging about cultural resource management archaeology is just the beginning

March, 2014 is the last month of #blogarch Part Deux. In addition to hosting an excellent discussion in the last few months about blogging, archaeology and points between, Doug Rocks-MacQueen posited a killer final question to end the series: Where do you plan on going with blogging or where would […]


@NatGeo archaeology site looting show features human remains

National Geographic Channel, what the hell are you thinking? Today I received an alarming message on the HistArch listserv. It seems like the corporate television channel bearing the National Geographic brand has created another riveting archaeological site looting show for its mouth-breathing audience. This time, they even desecrate human remains […]

Join the crusade against #naziwardiggers

Are cultural resource management archaeologists just like Wall Street bankers?

Are cultural resource management companies just drab grey suits? 2

Do we cultural resource management archaeologists do the same things? Are historic preservationists just following the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties? After decades of historic preservation and cultural resource management guidelines, are we all just going through the motions—just checking the boxes for our […]