Historical and Architectural Monuments in the United States

Lee, Ronald

In the United States, the movement to preserve historic sites and buildings for the public benefit began in the middle of the nineteenth century, largely through state and local efforts. Its inception was heralded in 1850 when the State of Hew York acquired the Hasbrouck House, General Washington's headquarters at Newburgh, New York, and placed it in the hands of the village trustees for preservation and exhibition - the first publicly-owned historic house museum in the country. Other evidence of tho stirring of public interest soon followed. When Mount Vernon, Washington's historic residence on the Potomac, was offered for sale and government authorities failed to act. Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham launched her great effort to organize the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association which, by 1859, had completed its acquisition. In 1863, when efforts to save the John Hancock house in Boston proved unsuccessful,R. Clipston Sturgis made architectural measured drawings of it for record purposes - the first known instance of this kind in the United States. In the century which has ensued from these slender beginnings, the preservation movement, despite the adverse effects of depressions and wars, has gradually spread throughout the nation.

Historical and Architectural Monuments in the United States

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