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Historical GIS for Vernacular Architecture Surveys & Virtual Reconstruction of Urban Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study in 1850s Wheeling, (West) Virginia

Material culture, 2020-04, Vol.52 (1), p.43-62

Copyright Pioneer America Society Inc Spring 2020 ;ISSN: 0883-3680 ;EISSN: 2328-3750

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  • Title:
    Historical GIS for Vernacular Architecture Surveys & Virtual Reconstruction of Urban Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study in 1850s Wheeling, (West) Virginia
  • Author: Bonenberger, Dan
  • Subjects: American literature ; Case studies ; Colloquial language ; Cultural heritage ; Culture ; Davis, Rebecca Harding (1831-1910) ; Geographic information systems ; Geography ; Harding, Rebecca
  • Is Part Of: Material culture, 2020-04, Vol.52 (1), p.43-62
  • Description: The reconstruction and interpretation of early American streetscapes is a tremendous challenge for preservationists and Virtual Heritage scholars alike. In historic preservation, reconstruction is taboo due to concerns over uncertainty and authenticity. Wheeling (West) Virginia's Webster (now 20th) street, for example, has been so drastically altered by urban development and redevelopment over the past 160 years that only a single building from the 1850s survives. Lack of knowledge about this place has hampered the ability of scholars to interpret the early influences and world view of Rebecca Harding Davis, who lived there during the years prior to writing her seminal works of American Literary Realism. This paper examines opportunities and challenges associated with a geographic approach to the virtual reconstruction of such places. The methodology includes several important steps beginning with the identification, digitization, and storage of archival evidence. Historic maps were georegistered to recent orthophotographs in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Subsequent analysis identified likely surviving contemporary dwellings nearby, which were verified by research in deed and tax records and intensive field recording. To reconstruct the cultural landscape of Webster street, where Rebecca Harding Davis lived in the 1850s, 3D digital models were produced in SketchUp to visually reflect the quality of data available for each building. Accurate models of vernacular architecture and other cultural landscape elements were assembled upon a digital terrain model in Unity3D, and the scene was exported into the HTC Vive head-mounted Virtual Reality display. The entire system is evaluated as a tool for historic preservation, cultural geography, education, and interpretation.
  • Publisher: University Center: Pioneer America Society Inc
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 0883-3680
    EISSN: 2328-3750
  • Source: ProQuest Academic
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