Landscapes & Cemeteries
Landscapes and Cemeteries
Historic landscapes are often cultural (manmade) landscapes. They range from vernacular landscapes, such as farms, rural villages, and vestigial road segments to formal landscapes, such as lawns and gardens. Ethnographic landscapes may include natural and cultural resources that particular populations view as heritage resources. Cemeteries are most often historically significant for their landscape attributes. AHS has extensive expertise in documenting and evaluating cultural landscapes, many of which have qualified for National Register or National Historic Landmark designation.
Landscapes
Featured Project
Putnam Memorial State Park
Putnam Memorial State Park (1887) in Redding, Connecticut, was created to preserve the grounds and remains of the 1778/1779 winter encampment of a Continental Army brigade. The early period of the park (1887-1925) saw the construction of blockhouses, pavilion, monument, and other landscape features designed to memorialize the Revolutionary War encampment. AHS determined that the Park, particularly the entrance, met National Register Criteria F consideration, for historical significance. We recommended that the improvement plans maintain the rustic landscape features as a quiet window into the past, as intended by the Park founders.
Other Project Examples
Governor Samuel Huntington Homestead
The 1723 Governor Samuel Huntington Homestead in Scotland, Connecticut, is a National Historic Landmark. It is the birthplace of the first president of the Continental Congress, who later served as Connecticut’s governor.
Philip Johnson’s Glass House
The iconic Glass House, a National Historic Landmark, is world-renowned for its architecture, but the 49-acre property is also a significant designed landscape.
Cemeteries
Featured Project
Grove Street Cemetery
This New Haven cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark, as documented by AHS staff. The Grove Street Cemetery, also known as the New Haven City Burial Ground, dates from 1796. A significant work of landscape architecture, it illustrates the evolution of the cemetery as a distinct landscape and represents a milestone in the historical development of the cemetery as a distinct institution.
Other Project Example
“Old Yard” Burial Ground
As part of a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Columbia Green Historic District, in Columbia, Connecticut, AHS staff documented an outstanding 18th- and early 19th-century cemetery.
For more information on AHS’s experience and capabilities, visit our expertise page.