[MassHistPres] On line house info

[John Worden]

Ellen St. Sure's recommendation - that the on line information include old, 
historical information and old & new photos is essentially what we have done 
in preparing our reports for Town Meeting for the establishment of our seven 
historic districts and several additions to some of those districts.

We followed the practice of assiduously avoiding names of current owners - 
even the description of my own house doesn't identify me as an owner.

As other posters have pointed out, the on line assessors' records contain 
price information, photographs, footprints, size calculation, number of 
bathrooms, and much other information for the benefit of the snoopy.

I'm a huge fan of 3 x 5 cards and paper files, but that does limit 
accessibility, and is probably considered by most to be a type of historic 
artifact, like the butter churn or the little carriers to keep the pews 
warm.

John Worden
Arlington HDC


> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:48:11 -0400
> From: "Ellen St. Sure" <estsure at comcast.net>
>
> Why not just post for the public the street address, photos old and new, 
> and whatever information (always interesting if well researched and well 
> written) that you have on the original owners/builders/occupants and 
> perhaps a few subsequent (early) owners/occupants, but omit current and 
> recent ownership altogether?  Would anybody object to A House With a 
> History, if properly explained?  Surely the current owners would enjoy 
> knowing more about their houses, and a documented history could actually 
> increase the value of the property, if they should ever want to sell.
>
> Ellen St. Sure
> Brewster Historical Commission
>
> On Mar 27, 2011, at 11:34 AM, Richard Casella wrote:
>
>> Ms. Wermiel's important points bring two caveats to this discussion: "For 
>> every action there is a reaction" and "Just because something can be done 
>> does not mean it should be done."  As a consultant who conducts field 
>> surveys (and a former member of a Historic District Commission), I can 
>> attest to the fact that a significant and vocal segment of the population 
>> continues to question how much historic preservation regulation we need. 
>> Bad feelings toward preservation activities can spread harder and faster 
>> than the good ones. Whether Princeton HC might somehow be subject to a 
>> lawsuit - baseless or not - is beside the point; if someone is 
>> sufficiently "annoyed or alienated" they will speak out and letters and 
>> editorials will follow. Since the idea is already meeting resistance, 
>> perhaps a reasonable compromise for now might be a news post on the PHC 
>> website stating that the information has been compiled and will be made 
>> available to researchers who submit a written request with
> their name, address and purpose.
>>
>> Richard Casella
>> Portsmouth, RI
>>