2023 May Preservation ePost

May is Preservation Month!

The month of May provides an opportunity to celebrate the work and spirit of historic preservation here in California and around the nation. This year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has adopted a theme of People Saving Places recognizing that the heart and success of preservation is found in the many individuals, groups, organizations, and communities committed to preserving our collective heritage.

To see a list of some of the preservation activities California communities and organizations have planned for this month, we invite you to visit the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) California Preservation Month page. Visit a historic site, attend a cultural event, and discover and celebrate the unique heritage of our state and your local region!

Images (clockwise from upper left): Encinitas Boat Houses, festival at China Camp State Park, historic home in Sacramento, and artwork of Chicano Park, San Diego (photos courtesy of Tom Cozens, California State Parks, Matt Walker, and Chicano Park Steering Committee respectively).

OHP Staff News

This month we are welcoming a new member to OHP management and noting new supervisory roles for two of our longtime staff as well!

Leslie Thelen is taking on the newly created role of Administrative Services Chief, overseeing all administrative functions in our office. Leslie has worked in State service since 2014 and prior to that had extensive contract, procurement, and office management experience in the private sector. She began her state career at the California Department of Public Health as a Program Technician in Fiscal and left as a Human Resources Analyst. Most recently, she comes to us from the Office of Systems Integration at the Child Welfare Digital Services Project as a Human Resources Liaison and Administrative Services Analyst who held a hybrid position encompassing facilities and human resources duties. Leslie holds a B.A. in Social Science from California State University Sacramento and has a love of all things California as well as American History. She enjoys time spent visiting the Monterey Bay Peninsula (obsessing over sea otters) and time at home in Sacramento County with her family and many pets.

Shannon Pries, a longtime staff member of our Local Government and Environmental Compliance Unit, has accepted the role of supervisor of the unit effective this month. Shannon brings to the position her many years of experience working with our various local government programs and with local government-related Section 106 reviews.

Brendon Greenaway of our Archaeology and Environmental Compliance Unit has achieved the position of Senior State Archaeologist. He will be supervisor of the OHP's work with the Middle Mile Broadband Network project, bringing to his new role years of archaeological and Section 106 expertise.

Congratulations to Leslie, Shannon, and Brendon!

Public Input Sought at the Local Level

We wanted to pass along word that the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) is seeking public input to inform California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment Regional Synthesis Reports. The regional reports will strengthen the understanding of climate impacts and risks at the local level and inform the development of resilience actions across the state.

Submit written responses by 5:00 p.m. on May 31, 2023. For instructions on submitting responses, and a schedule of public listening sessions taking place throughout May, see the Fifth Climate Change Assessment eBlast. We encourage you to participate in this important initiative!

Funding for Preservation

California Humanities Grant Programs (California Humanities). Grants support a variety of efforts by nonprofits and public agencies to preserve and educate about California's richly diverse heritage.

Deadlines for applications range from June to November 2023.

National Trust Preservation Funds (National Trust for Historic Preservation). Funding supports preservation planning and educational projects at the local level.

Deadline for applications: June 1, 2023.

Hometown Grants (T-Mobile/Main Street America/Smart Growth America). Grants are awarded on a quarterly basis to support the preservation and revitalization of community spaces in towns of 50,000 population or less.

Deadline for applications: June 30, 2023.

The remaining quarterly grant cycles for 2023 take place July-September and October-December.

History of Equal Rights Grant Program (National Park Service). Funding supports efforts to preserve sites associated with the struggle for equal rights in America.

Deadline for applications: July 11, 2023.

Underrepresented Communities Grant Program (National Park Service). Grants support the survey, inventory, and designation of historic properties associated with communities currently underrepresented in the National Register of Historic Places and among National Historic Landmarks.

Deadline for applications: July 18, 2023.

Designating California!

Spring has finally arrived in California and all over the state people are engaged in cultivating gardens of every kind. In honor of the season, we spotlight here one of California's older, unique garden sites that holds enduring cultural importance.

Chinatown Gardens Archaeological District is situated on the northeast edge of Mokelumne Hill’s historic Chinatown, occupying 3.87 acres of Volunteer Gulch in Calaveras County. The district encompasses the archaeological remains of a commercial market garden operated by the town’s Chinese residents between the 1850s and 1898, a small residence area, and the community’s Buddhist Temple. Six contributing sites include ruins of historic buildings and structures and the remnant of a pond for growing water chestnuts. Fourteen contributing structures include three major terrace walls and six smaller stone terraces, a produce processing platform with artifact deposit, the stone-lined channel of the gulch’s relocated stream, two ditches, and a stone roasting oven.

Gold miners abandoned the Volunteer Gulch site in 1850 and Chinatown then began developing commercial agricultural gardens in the area. Commercial activity continued until 1898 when a fire destroyed most of Chinatown and residents moved away. Since its abandonment, the district has remained relatively undisturbed, protected by dense blackberry vines. As the only known extant Chinese garden in California, the district represents a unique association with Chinese commercial agriculture and offers information potential on agricultural methods and the lifeways of the gardens’ caretakers.

Chinatown Gardens Archaeological District achieved listing on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2023, in association with the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1970 Multiple Property Submission.

Photo courtesy of Julia Costello.

State Historical Resources Commission

The SHRC meets quarterly each year. Commission meetings are open to the public and live-streamed through the Cal-Span network. Meeting dates, times, and agendas are posted to the SHRC Meeting Schedule and Notices page of the OHP website.

For upcoming nominations, visit the Pending Nominations page. Nominations already heard by the Commission are listed on the Actions Taken page, and video recordings of SHRC meetings are posted to the Meeting Recordings & Summaries page.

Learn more about the responsibilities and role of the SHRC.

News, Education, and More

Section 106 Training is Coming to Sacramento

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is bringing their popular Section 106 Training courses to Sacramento this July. The OHP will host the two day series.

July 12: Section 106 Essentials

July 13: Section 106 Agreements Seminar

HistoriCorps 2023 Projects include California

Applications are being accepted to participate in 2023 volunteer projects with HistoriCorps, including projects in California taking place this summer and fall. The nonprofit organization trains volunteer crews of all ages the hands-on skills of restoring, repairing, and preserving historic resources on public lands. Meals, tools, and campsites are provided.

Online Trainings from NPI

The National Preservation Institute (NPI) is offering a variety of online trainings on all topics and areas of preservation. Both free and for-fee courses are offered.

Subscribe to the OHP ePosts

Items posted in the ePost are presented as an informational courtesy and do not constitute an endorsement by the Office of Historic Preservation.

News from California State Parks

Now through an online news feed, you can keep up on the latest news from California State Parks, our parent department. Subscribe Here.

(This will not affect your subscription to the OHP ePost)