Guide
We Heart Saving Places: Heart Bombing Across America
February is the perfect time to show lots of love for historic places—and preservationists around the country rise to the occasion each year, heart bombing places that mean something to them. See some highlights of past creations below, and follow #IHeartSavingPlaces on Instagram to find more heart bombings.
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Photo By: Megan Ockerman
Crosby House Museum (Tumwater, Washington)
The Crosby House is part of the Tumwater Historic District. At around 158 years old, it is one of the oldest buildings still standing on the Puget Sound. It was built by Nathaniel Crosby, grandfather of singer Bing Crosby and an early pioneer to the area. It still needs constant love and repair, but the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington (who acquired the home in 1947) are dedicated to preserving the home’s past.
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Photo By: Jay Groah
Terra Cotta Building (Utica, New York)
Originally a meat market and local bread company during the 1800s, the Terra Cotta Building offers incredible detail work and is a prime example of a once-thriving business in Utica. While the building is under threat of demolition, it has the potential to become something great—there’s even interest in it becoming a jazz club.
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Photo By: Mary Kaye Sickles
Phelps Mansion Museum (Binghamton, New York)
The Phelps Mansion was built in 1870 for Sherman D. Phelps, a prominent Binghamton resident. The building was design by local architect Isaac Perry, who also designed the New York State Capitol Building in Albany.
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Photo By: Jim Gonzalez
St. Anthony’s Church (Toledo, Ohio)
St. Anthony's is a gorgeous 1894 Gothic Revival Catholic Church. Preserve! Toledo is working in coordination with the Junction Coalition organization to hopefully delay impending demolition in June 2018. There are so many potential adaptive and alternative uses for the church that the local community can benefit from.
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Photo By: Casey Freemyer, Sr.
Everly Brothers Childhood Home (Shenandoah, Iowa)
Don and Phil Everly’s humble clapboard cottage provides an irreplaceable, authentic sensory testament to their formative years. Don and Phil's childhood home was saved by The Everly Brothers Childhood Home Foundation and is the only house museum dedicated to the world-renowned sibling duo.
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Photo By: Dawn Olsen
The National Road (Indianapolis, Indiana)
The National Road was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Preserve Greater Indy teamed up with Historic Indianapolis to heart bomb some of the diamonds-in-the-rough along the National Road, known locally as Washington Street.
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Photo By: Derek Scacchetti
C.H. Burroughs House (Cincinnati, Ohio)
The C.H. Burroughs House was constructed in 1888 by renowned Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford. The building was subsequently purchased by the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1925. The organization purchased the building at a time when African Americans were denied mortgages, but after 20 years, the group had fully paid off the mortgage and owns the building to this day.
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Photo By: Julia Chain
Mount Tabor AME Church & Cemetery (Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania)
This building represents the history of a once-thriving African American community founded by freed people escaping the south. Elias Van Buren Parker, once an enslaved person, built the church around 1870 and is buried in the cemetery, along with fellow veterans who served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War.
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Photo By: Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance
The Hale Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
The Hale Building had been sitting vacant for years before its purchase by developers in 2013. That year, Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia heart bombed The Hale to celebrate its potential future plans and returned in 2018 to recognize its imminent ribbon cutting. The seven-story masonry building combines Gothic and High Victorian elements in a truly unique fashion, ensuring its continued status as a local landmark even as it sat empty.
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Photo By: Bobby Parker
Havre de Grace Colored School (Havre de Grace, Maryland)
More than just brick and mortar, this school symbolizes the lives and legacies of those ancestors who fiercely advocated for better educational opportunities for African American students in Maryland. To preserve the rich history and legacy of the school, the Colored School Foundation is spearheading a series of nonstop fundraising activities to purchase the school.
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Photo By: Ladew Topiary Gardens
Ladew Topiary Gardens (Monktown, Maryland)
The Ladew Manor House stands as a reminder of the unique and inspired life of Harvey Ladew. The house, which was built over three centuries, is home to Ladew’s remarkable collection of English antiques and equestrian-themed art. The Manor House preceded and inspired the 22-acres of formal gardens which reflect its beauty, elegance, and humor.
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Photo By: Rebecca Axilbund
Bussard’s Barbershop (Middletown, Maryland)
This circa 1870 building was formerly a harness shop, then meat market, and its last use was a barbershop that shut its doors in late 2017. Main Street Middletown, MD Inc is in the process of raising funds to purchase this building. The property is actually comprised of two buildings, the barbershop (pictured) and a former chicken coop.
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Photo By: Kathleen Scalera
Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House (Alexandria, Virginia)
Light and lines, stories and stateliness, and past and present are all encompassed within the walls and grounds of these two buildings, Historic Sites of the National Trust. They are a testament to our wonderfully diverse and unique country.
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Photo By: Alex Panas
Main Street and Market Street Buildings (Wheeling, West Virginia)
1069 Main Street is currently being privately developed. 722-724 Main Street, built in the mid-1800s, are two of the oldest homes in historic North Wheeling. 1425-1433 Market Street are a row of vacant, city-owned properties situated in the downtown business district. These buildings could have easily been scheduled for demolition, but thanks to the city and other preservation-focused community groups, they are safe and loved.
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Photo By: Jessica McCarron for Vital Sites
East Broadway Row (Louisville, Kentucky)
Vital Sites is rehabilitating five c. 1890 shotgun houses, which will help maintain Louisville’s streetscape and are located in a National Register historic district (Highlands). They had been vacant for many years and needed a lot of TLC, but many wonderful architectural details are still present on the exterior and interior of the houses.
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Photo By: Thomas Tolliver
Palmer’s Pharmacy (Lexington, Kentucky)
The Dr. Zirl Palmer Pharmacy Building is a 1961 Midcentury Modern beacon of hope, optimism, and community—and a symbol of a segregated Lexington. Built by Zirl Palmer, it is the only remaining building in Lexington built, owned, and operated by an African American pharmacist, entrepreneur, and activist. Dr. Palmer was the first African American to own a Rexall franchise in the United States, and the first African American to be appointed to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.
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Photo By: Barbara Wetmore
Page-Walker Arts & History Center (Cary, North Carolina)
Built in 1868 by town founder Allison Francis Page, the Page-Walker is a reminder of Cary’s early development as a railroad town. The original building was constructed as a hotel to serve passengers on the North Carolina and Chatham railroads. In the years since, it has been used as a boarding house and private residence and since 1994 as a public arts and history center. It is a rare example of Second Empire style in Wake County.
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Photo By: Jerry Barrack
Filoli Historic House and Garden (Woodside, California)
Filoli represents California eclectic style, and an inspiring vision of a new Eden, with a Georgian Revival-style mansion turned living museum, 16-acres of exquisite formal gardens, a continually operating Gentleman’s Orchard, and a nature preserve with a public Estate Trail.
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Photo By: Chris Rocha
Hotel Fresno (Fresno, California)
This hotel is Fresno's oldest existing hotel, built in 1912. Designed by Edward T. Foulkes, it was considered the social center of the city. Vaudeville performers often stayed at the hotel while they were performing next door at the White Theater. Though the building has sat vacant since 1983, its beautiful lobby woodwork is still present, as well as the grand fireplace, original tile flooring with a grapevine mosaic, and a 1920s mural by a local Fresno artist.
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Photo By: Aja Bain
St. Bernard Convent and Academy (Nashville, Tennessee)
SBA was finished in 1905 as a girl's school and home for the Sisters of Mercy in Nashville. It's a beautiful but restrained example of High Victorian Gothic and retains many original features. It was sold in 2015 to its largest tenant, and preservationists all over town breathed a sigh of relief that this unique structure would be preserved. Today, the building houses offices for a wide range of professions with the large chapel still holding religious services.
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Photo By: Carol Hunter
Barton Academy (Mobile, Alabama)
Barton Academy was the first public school in the state of Alabama. It was completed in 1836 and served as a school until the 1960s when it was converted for use as offices. Vacant since 2007, the building was twice listed in Alabama's list of "Places in Peril," but it was recently stabilized by the school system and is awaiting conversion into a new public high school for Advanced World Studies.
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Photo By: Rachel Delgado
Alameda Theater (San Antonio, Texas)
This Art Deco theater opened in 1949 to much fanfare and ran Mexico's Golden Age of cinema. Walking in was like walking into a fantasy world. Black light murals on the walls depicted the history of Mexico and Texas. Etched glass railings led to the balcony. Even the sidewalks outside had a mosaic design.