Current Projects
as of Winter 2025
“What is the Future of Cultural Landscape Preservation?” Symposium
In November 2024, the Urban Heritage Project convened a symposium at the University of Pennsylvania, gathering 80+ academics and practitioners to delve into the critical aspects of preserving cultural landscapes today, including the challenges and models for future work. The recordings from that event (and the preceding virtual events) will be posted here. The research from this symposium remains ongoing.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
The Urban Heritage Project will produce a Cultural Landscape Report for the memorial landscape along the Tidal Basin that is dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. The project takes into consideration the exacerbating effects of climate change on the landscape, as well as the complicated design history of this recent addition to the memorial landscape of the National Mall.
Skyline Drive
The Urban Heritage Project is finishing up the first phase of a multi-phase endeavor to complete a Cultural Landscape Report for Skyline Drive, the National Historic Landmark parkway located within Shenandoah National Park.
Catoctin Mountain Park (Parkwide)
Work is underway on a Cultural Landscape Inventory for the 5,100-acre national park in western Maryland that includes several cabin camps, adirondack shelters, campgrounds, picnic areas, and overlooks. The park was created as a Recreational Demonstration Area during the New Deal, and has been associated with several significant federal employment programs.
Catoctin Mountain Park - Round Meadow
The Urban Heritage Project is working on a Cultural Landscape Report (Part I) and a Cultural Landscape Inventory for the Round Meadow section of Catoctin Mountain Park, an area associated with the Civilian Conservation Corps, Job Corps, and other significant chapters of the park’s history.
Prince William Forest Park - Hickory Ridge Area
Our team is working on a Public Outreach Study for the historic Hickory Ridge community, which was displaced during the creation and development of Prince William Forest Park. Our project is underway in tandem with an archeological study (led by AECOM), and will explore the public memory and physical traces of this historically Black community.
Civil Rights Mapping Project
The Urban Heritage Project is leading a collaborative effort–with NPS’ National Capital Region, LSU’s Brent Fortenberry, and a group of consulting scholars–to research and map landscapes related to African American civil rights in Washington, DC. Research explorations are focused on innovative methods of documentation and spatial representation, and how these methods can inform cultural landscape preservation techniques.
C&O Canal - Carderock Area
A Cultural Landscape Report is underway to address the segments of the C&O Canal associated with Black laborers in the Civilian Conservation Corps (a New Deal program) in the Carderock area of the canal. This project builds on the Urban Heritage Project’s earlier CLR for the Georgetown area of the canal.
Arlington House
Our team is conducting research and fieldwork to create a specialized Cultural Landscape Report for the historic house and former plantation located within Arlington National Cemetery.