About Us

About PreservationDirectory.com

PreservationDirectory.com is the online resource for historic preservation, building restoration and cultural resource management in the United States & Canada. Our goal is to foster the preservation of historic buildings, historic downtowns and neighborhoods, cultural resources and to promote heritage tourism by facilitating communication among historic preservation professionals and the general public.

Founded in 1999, PreservationDirectory.com has continually expanded and evolved to cover a comprehensive array of topics and resources of most interest to the historic and cultural resource community.  By conducting endless research, we identify prime resources and conveniently organize them on our site for your use (at no charge to you!).  The website is divided in the following main sections:

• Preservation News & Events - listings of events related to historic and cultural preservation throughout North America.
• The Preservation Blog - serves as a collection of "mini-blogs" that present articles and news items in a wide variety of topics under the umbrella of historic and cultural resource preservation.  Our aim is to build a public repository of articles/notices/releases on a wide variety of topics of value to the preservation community, including restoration techiques, historic preservation and cultural resource job listings, the historic nomination process, museum exhibitions and news, preservation legislation, historic travel and heritage trip ideas, and endangered or threatened historic sites and homes.
• Preservation Organizations & Resources - comprehensive directories of historical societies & preservation organizations; State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO); Certified Local Governments Commissions; and undergraduate, graduate and other preservation-related historic preservation educational programs. 
• Museums & Historic Structures - directories of history museums; historic house museums; living history museums; and museums that specialize in a particular subject such as presidential history, maritime history and native american history.  Also contains a directory of historic theaters in North America.
• Historic Real Estate for Sale - view hundreds of historic homes and buildings for sale, as well as list historic homes and buildings for sale.  Also, visit our new "Real Estate Agent" directory to find an agent committed to working with you to find your historic dreamhome.
• Preservation Businesses, Products & Services - directory provides a wide variety of resources for those working on a historic home project, planning a building restoration project, or those interested in hiring a historic consultant to complete a historic nomination or provide design services.
• Historic Lodging (Inns, Bed & Breakfasts & Hotels) - directory of historic inns, bed and breakfasts, and hotels in the United State and Canada.
• Historic Tours - directory lists historic and cultural tour guides, excursions and heritage tourism services in the United States and Canada.
• Preservation General Resources - primary resources for the wide-spectrum of categories related to historic and cultural resource preservation (over 60 categories, including African American History, Historic Barns, Drive-In Theaters, Preservation Employment, Military History, and Women's Rights History).   
• Historic & Cultural Photo Gallery - photos from a wide variety of historic destinations, including photos of historic districts, main street and downtown photos, amazing architecture, roadside attractions and Americana.  Also includes an ever-growing photo guide to Architectural Styles. 
• Preservation Bookstore - presenting the best books for the historic and cultural resource community.  The bookstore features titles in the fields of historic preservation; building restoration; architectural history; downtown, mainstreet, and urban revitalization, historic real estate; identifying architectural tours; and many more. 
  

PreservationDirectory.com is headquartered in beautiful and historic Portland, Oregon.  While the site is a National (and International) resource for historic preservation, building restoration, heritage travel, historic real estate and cultural resource management, we are involved in a number of local projects with preservation partners here in Portland.  [Note - Portland, Oregon was Named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2008 List of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations®].

Tim Cannan, President & Founder

PreservationDirectory.com was created in the Fall of 1999 by Tim Cannan, a native of Rochester, NY. Growing up in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Western New York fostered a deep appreciation for preserving local history and architecture, as well as the positive aspects of preserving neighborhoods and historic downtowns (photo is from the south end of Canandaigua Lake in Western NY's Finger Lakes Region).

While completing his degree in Policy Studies at Syracuse University, he became active in the historic and cultural preservation efforts of the Preservation Association of Central New York and the Westcott Eastside Neighborhood Association. Upon graduation, Tim worked at the National Park Service's National Center for Conservation and Recreation in Washington, DC, where his main focus of activity was the National Heritage Areas program and the National Heritage Rivers Initiative (this is also where Tim learned web design, under the guidance of the National Park Service Webmaster).

After spending the next two years in beautiful Ithaca, NY working at Cornell University, he next moved to Spokane, WA. While in Spokane, Tim was active in the historic Browne's Addition neighborhood - Spokane's first established neighborhood. Among many projects completed for the community, he coordinated the summer concert series in Coeur d'Alene Park (Spokane's first park), created the neighborhood website and did extensive research for the Historic Neighborhood Survey. Tim was also employed by the Spokane City-County Historic Preservation Department, where he catalogued historic property files and photos, as well as creating a "virtual tour" of the local, State and National Register Properties in Spokane and Spokane County.

Tim and PreservationDirectory.com relocated to Portland, Oregon in 2002 for many of the same reasons that all who move to Portland do - walkable historic neighborhoods, great beer, and mild winters (rain is no problem after many long upstate NY winters).  Now permanently settled in the historic St. John's neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, Tim looks forward to continuing to serve the preservation community through PreservationDirectory.com.

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