Six diverse HABS projects were accepted today by Heritage Documentation Programs of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. These donated HABS photography surveys range from the earliest colonial history of the west to modern conveniences found in 4000 shopping center parking lots in the 1970s.
The oldest government building in America, The Palace of Governors (El Palacio Real de Santa Fe) in Santa Fe, New Mexico was photographed in 1934 by HABS and I recreated some of those views in 2023 in 4×5 black and white and 4×5 color transparency from the same camera positions and submitted them as an addendum to HABS-NM-2.
The ubiquitous Fotomat booth from the 1970s was photographed on New Years Day of 2023 with ‘Ansel Adams’ clouds in Glendale, California on 5×7 black and white film.
Buhl United Methodist Church is a vernacular church in southern Idaho constructed of local black stone and not under any threat known by me when I drove past it with my 5×7 camera and stopped to add a single negative to the HABS collection.
The Chaves County Courthouse in Roswell New Mexico is another example of a handsome building being lit by afternoon sun as I drove by with my 4×5 camera in the car on the way home from a HABS documentation at Big Bend National Park in Texas. I had to stop and record the site which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Fort Nelson building in downtown Louisville, Kentucky is a marvelous rehabilitation of what was a dilapidated commercial building into the renovated Louisville home of Michter’s Whiskey. The building now houses the Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery with a gift shop, on-site stills and vats, a tasting room and the ‘Bar at Fort Nelson’ upstairs overlooking the Louisville Slugger Museum.
The mid-century modern American Legion Building in Ontario, California is typical of Legion buildings with windowless bars, event spaces, offices and meeting rooms for Legion business that was unfortunately demolished for a housing project. Though the local mitigation specified only digital photos, I did bring the 4×5 film camera and take a couple for donation to the official HABS collection.
All of these HABS negatives and prints were donated to the HABS collection through the donation programs outlined here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritagedocumentation/donated-documentation.htm
If you’d like more information about HABS, HAER or HALS photography take a look at the HABS FAQ page of our website.
Stephen Schafer, HABS/HAER/HALS Photography,
Ventura, California
Phone: 415-857-HAER
E: schaf@west.net