Happy Official Autumn!

So every time I aim to close out the year strongly by focussing on professional matters, my thoughts drift off to the lazy days of summer (the active ones, too!) when I got to indulge in some of my very favorite pastimes…

For one, I fed my love of history! I got to take trips up and down both US coasts, visiting family and friends, and hitting historic places from my travel bucket list! And in the “lazy day” column, I caught up on archaeology magazines and binge-devoured old episodes of the British series Time Team like candy! 

Although my major was English, the very first college course I attended was called Classic Archaeology – and it’s been an interest ever since! Even so, my command of the discipline’s jargon constantly needs updating. Like I’m glad they explained on Time Team that “geo phiz” wasn’t a mixed drink but a nickname for their Geophysical Survey Equipment. And the first time I heard the phrase in situ, I thought someone was trying to sneeze politely…

But in archaeological terms, in situ is when an artifact is in the original place and position where it was discovered, providing a better sense of the context in which it was used and its overall place in time.

During my summer travels, I checked out some older items that definitely weren’t in situ anymore. And I don’t mean coins or pottery – I’m talking big ticket stuff!

I can’t help mentioning how my college professor almost sounded regretful about the technological tools available in modern archaeology. He seemed to have held onto the romantic idea that if one found an ancient golden goblet in situ, it should be dug up straight away and brushed off with a sleeve, then filled with wine and passed amongst the crew for a sip – and then the analysis would begin! Back in more freewheeling dig days, whole structures (let alone goblets) might be spirited away from their in situ sites by an ardent archaeologist (or by a rich dude, as I recount in The Bit About Transplanted Treasures).

I did read about and see first-hand this summer though that buildings have also been moved more in the interest of preservation:

North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was picked up and shifted inland since the workings of nature were eroding an ever-nearing shoreline. And when the course of nature blessed England’s Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with nine children, it was decided that London’s wee Buckingham Palace simply wouldn’t do as it was. So the huge Marble Arch that stood right outside was moved to a corner of Hyde Park, making way for an additional wing. 

When the River Nile’s course was altered with the construction of Egypt’s Aswan High Dam, ancient monuments were relocated to avoid their being submerged. And Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s home has been moved not once but twice – first, to protect it from demolition, then to make it more accessible to history buffs (and now Broadway musical fans!) at Hamilton Grange National Memorial in Manhattan.

Of these varied items that are no longer in situ, I’ve only seen the Marble Arch. But I hope to catch more as I try to work my way through UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites: 

According to the book, that relocation of monuments due to the Aswan High Dam was UNESCO’s first spearheading of a campaign to rescue imperiled cultural treasures – and it “paved the way for the key notion of the common heritage of mankind”. Such drastic measures aren’t required in every case, but now a treaty called the World Heritage Convention can be invoked to identify and preserve sites of cultural and natural significance throughout the world!

Honestly, I’d be quite happy to travel to London to see more results of these mammoth moves – but turns out there are examples just a few miles from home! And not too much farther away, a bit of London has kind of traveled to me!

Here in Los Angeles, there’s a charming collection of historic homes just north of Downtown at the Heritage Square Museum! The museum’s mission is “to Preserve, Collect, and Interpret the architecture, physical environment, and culture of Southern California during the first one hundred years of statehood” – and to that end, buildings from the LA area that faced demolition have been moved, restored and furnished to create a quaint city block from days gone by!

Among them is the Octagon House, built in 1893 in Pasadena:

There’s the Perry Mansion, built in 1876 and moved from Boyle Heights:

And the Hale House, built in 1887 in Highland Park:

The museum also offers the Great Hiking Era Interpretive Trail for folks interested in experiencing local wilderness just as LA residents from over a century ago would have done!

And I’ve known for years that just a short but desolate drive away lies another transplanted piece of history – the London Bridge!

Well – a London Bridge.

Beginning with wooden versions dating to before Roman times, a number of London Bridges have spanned the River Thames – including a 12th Century stone one that lasted more than 600 years! When the 1831 iteration needed replacing, it was put up for sale and purchased in 1968 by an American, Robert B. McCulloch, Sr., for just under $2.5 million. The bridge became part of his vision to make Arizona’s Lake Havasu City a prime tourist destination!

The town had been established just a few years before beside a reservoir along the Colorado River. Mr. McCulloch arranged for each London Bridge stone to be numbered before disassembly and shipment stateside. After an inner support structure was built, the bridge was reconstructed across Lake Havasu’s Bridgewater Channel and rededicated in 1971!

I went to check it out – and while the triple digit summer heat was a bit much for me, it was still a delight to say “hello” to this stalwart piece of history from my favorite city in the world! And right near the bridge, I found a few other relocated British items on display in a little area called the English Village:

Lake Havasu City looks full of inviting recreation opportunities like fishing, boating, and simply lounging either beside the lake or right in it as one group was doing – chairs, umbrellas and all! In a few weeks (and perhaps, fewer degrees…), their festival season begins in earnest with a packed calendar of musical and other events.

On my pleasant walk along the shoreline, I paused for a while beneath the bridge. And but for the non-brackish water, the punishing heat, and pretty much everything else, I’d have thought: “By Jove, it jolly well feels as if I’m in London!”

Yeah, no. But I don’t think conjuring the bridge’s former home was the aim. In the end, this was the grabbed-at chance for a landmark’s story not to end, but to be written completely anew! And since it’s the reason I went to visit this recreational oasis, I have to say – well played, Mr. McCulloch! Very well played!

Whether I’ve seen them or not, it pleases me to know that these ex situ sights are out there! (Ex situ’s being proper jargon – um, I think…) And I love that each of their unique stories was given the chance to continue!

Cheers!