Beautiful Harvard has many treasures that are loved by its citizens and that continue to draw people. In a simple drive-through, the rolling hills, open fields, and beautiful old homes are apparent and very appealing. Take a closer look and you will learn about Harvard’s excellent schools, a culture of volunteerism that engages the residents in its town government, and its art, cultural, sports, and social activities that span all age groups.
In the early 1970s, the town residents decided to take advantage of the commonwealth’s law to preserve one aspect of its wealth: its historic places. The town voted to establish a historical commission and soon after identified two historic districts that were especially important to the town. These were the town Common in the town’s center and the Shaker Village in northeast Harvard.
Since then, the Harvard Historical Commission has established some ‘Design Guidelines’ that customize the town’s historical bylaw to our local requirements. These design guidelines are the basis for the Historical Commission’s quasi-judicial administration of the two districts. Here, the commission’s jurisdiction is limited to the exteriors of the properties.
It is important to remember that at the same time, the town also chose to give the commission the additional responsibility to advise the town property owners on how to best preserve all of its historic properties, whether inside or outside the historic districts. This responsibility pertains to the exteriors as well as the interiors of the properties, but here the historical preservation advice is not binding on the property owners.
Since its inception, the commission has documented more than 500 historic properties in Harvard, including Devens, which have been submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for registration. In addition, the commission has managed the preservation of several of our historic gems outside of our districts. Several other historic places were nominated and accepted for the National Register. The commission publishes a website that documents this work and that it uses to communicate with the community: hhcommission.wordpress.com.
All of this work has been done at no expense to the taxpayers. So far, the commission, by choice, has been operating without a budget. To make that happen, a long list of very generous citizens beginning with Miss Elvira Scorgie have dedicated their lives to this work.
But now, we need to sound the clarion for help. We need to replenish the ranks of our commissioners, who are appointed by our Board of Selectmen; and, perhaps more important, we need to augment our volunteer staff who does the work of the commission. The extent to which we succeed in continuing the work of our predecessors depends on you and your continued generosity. Give us your time, and we will give you the necessary training in addition to the camaraderie and enjoyment of contributing to the beauty and culture of our beautiful Harvard. We are very flexible on the hours that our volunteer staff can give us. So try us out!
Please visit out website and select the Job Opening item on the Commision tab for details and on whom to contact.
Joseph Theriault is a member of the Harvard Historical Commission.
