I had not known that the limits of the Corporation of Shepherdstown do not match the limits of the Historic District. This is not uncommon.
Consider that it is good practice: some structures and streets which contribute to the “town” as a place worthy of the historic designation might not be within the Corporation. Conversely, some structures and streets within the Corporation might contribute little to the spirit of the historic district. Right?
What if we have it wrong
It is unfortunate, although common to such historic district designations, that entire classes of buildings or “zones” of the urban setting are routinely ignored — witness the south end of Princess Street.*
There, two houses of little distinction sit within part of what is/was an urban landscape very different form the bulk of Shepherdstown, a vestige of its industrial character. These houses (one of which was recently sided with vinyl) are within a gerrymandered portion of the preservation district boundary, which excludes the adjacent, and far more interesting, sheds and smaller out-buildings nearby. These industrial/commercial buildings offer far greater gravitas, historically speaking, than those two houses ever could. It is not that they have greater architectural value than those two houses — many would agree to less — but instead they hold an urban value which exceeds that of the houses. Indeed, the two houses are fairly misplaced.
Some years ago, the feed mill was torn down. Recently, another small wood frame structure was lost. (I am told it “fell down”.) Would these structures have met the same fate had they been in a protected district?
It would be a rare industrial park that one might consider worthy of protection from character-changing development, the goal of many historic district designations. The area outside of South Princess Street and the Corporate boundary might even suffer adversely should it find itself within the historic district. But that landscape, as a counterpoint to the river end of Princess Street and an unspoiled, small scale example of an industrial past, must have its character preserved. This is not an argument against change or growth but instead an appeal for what might occur there, that it maintain the spirit of the place. This is what a historic designation, in an area with individuals buildings of little import, must first and foremost do.
*I don’t have the map at hand while I edit this, but I wonder if the north end of Princess Street suffers in the same manner.
