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B Haley

@ghastlyfop

architectural historian, preservation planner, university lecturer

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21.09.2023
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Latest posts by B Haley @ghastlyfop

This is infuriating on many levels. Not least because some professionally excavated outhouses in Philadelphia have yielded great info. I hope the SHPO gets in touch with them to explain how they’re destroying history.

14.03.2026 13:17 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Moving to a grain elevator in Minnesota. See ya ✌️

www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

12.03.2026 22:42 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Meanwhile there’s a major affordable housing crisis in expensive towns like Amherst and here are fine old buildings being run into the ground on purpose by an elite institution with more money than they know what to do with. These houses could hold a couple families each.

12.03.2026 13:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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This is becoming a pattern with buildings they own.

They bought the historic Dakin estate not long ago with no plans to do anything with it, they just want the land. As a result they haven’t maintained the house and will demo it also. The town has no way to penalize this kind of willful neglect.

12.03.2026 13:37 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Amherst College is going demolish this nice old house. They’re not doing it for any reason other than they don’t want itβ€”there are no plans to redevelop the property.

They could just mothball it with a metal roof for about $25k but they won’t. Their endowment is $4 billion.

12.03.2026 13:37 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The timing of this, right after the feds end all support/subsidies for green energy development, electric vehicles, etc. couldn’t be more perfect.

11.03.2026 16:13 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Iranian Media Reports Damage to Chehel Sotoun, a UNESCO-Listed Palace Chehel Sotoun, a UNESCO-listed palace in Isfahan, Iran, was damaged, according to the Iranian state media.

There is this: www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

10.03.2026 12:09 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is this New York-centric chauvinism? Baffling and annoying. Missed opportunity, too. Oh well. Now I have an essay on a topical subject and nowhere to send it!

09.03.2026 19:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They never indicated that there was a substantive problem with the article. When I proved point by point that nothing survives in NY and the only way to tell the story is through what survives in the MA State Library, their response was β€œThis article is not of interest to us at this time.”

09.03.2026 19:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

You would be wrong. I submitted a throughly researched essay to them on the subject and they indicated interest, but suggested that I did not do sufficient archival research because there were no sources cited from the New York State Archive.

09.03.2026 19:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I don’t like complaining, but you’d think in the 250th year of Knox delivering the artillery that drove the British from Boston AND the 100th of the establishment of NY’s Knox commission, which installed the commemorative markers, the NY History Journal might be interested in an essay on the topic.

09.03.2026 19:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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How can we have three (or more?) years of this shit.

09.03.2026 01:26 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Knox Trail Lecture – Southborough History and Arts Center

If you’re near Southborough, MA, come hear me blab next Sunday, March 15 about the real purpose of the so-called Knox Trail. This is based on uncovering a cache of documents no one had ever examined.

Remarkably, it’s almost β€œsold out” (it’s free but ticket needed). fayvillehall.org/event/knox-t...

09.03.2026 00:37 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ten years ago I was in Marcapata, Peru and observed this Int’l Women’s Day ceremony.

Marcapata is right on the eastern edge of the Andes. Standing on an overlook looking east I could smell the Amazon on a warm breeze wafting up from the lower elevations. Amazing experience.

08.03.2026 16:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Was listening to a local college radio station and after a song released in 2013 was played the host said it reminded him of being in his babysitter’s car because she played it a lot. Boy, have I never felt so old.

06.03.2026 23:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Sure hope I start seeing these on gas pumps just like during Biden’s presidency. Not holding out hope though.

06.03.2026 18:15 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Francisco Franco, in addition to ordering slaughter of humans and shooting game animals, also enjoyed killing a couple of whales a year. Had a harpoon fitted to his yacht Azor. He'd dump 'em on Galician fishing village quays demanding payment from municipality for oil they'd extract

04.03.2026 12:25 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1
Memorials in Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery - Find a Grave The World’s largest gravesite collection. Contribute, create and discover gravesites from all over the world. Memorials in Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery, a Find a Grave.

Today I learned that FindAGrave includes pet cemeteries??? See, for example: www.findagrave.com/cemetery/640...

04.03.2026 01:38 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Update on the Francis Davis Millet studio: the sellers would still accept another offer from another person/entity. Anybody have a spare $200k-$250k to save an American treasure?

03.03.2026 17:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I love this idea because I, too, hate my friends

02.03.2026 21:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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We just want healthcare

28.02.2026 22:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The historical commission can impose demolition delay, which they prob will do. But they haven’t done much more than that. I think they don’t want to annoy β€œproperty rights” people.

28.02.2026 13:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Genuinely would like to know why the algorithm gave me this ad

26.02.2026 02:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don’t want to live in this world. I bet most people don’t. How do we make it stop.

25.02.2026 00:47 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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This guy gets it.

23.02.2026 20:42 πŸ‘ 23671 πŸ” 5748 πŸ’¬ 454 πŸ“Œ 805

Had a timely article rejected by the NY History Journal bc my submission β€œwas more about Massachusetts” and I β€œdidn’t consult” records in the NYS archives. My article notes that there are no relevant surviving records in the NYS archives and the only way to tell the story is via records in MA πŸ™ƒ

23.02.2026 18:25 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The picture is what you get if you ask Instagram’s AI image generator to illustrate β€œHenry Knox delivering the β€˜Noble Train of Artillery’ to George Washington.”

Knox was actually 6’3” and morbidly obese but I like that he’s depicted as a little blond anime dude.

22.02.2026 02:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The English aesthetic is back, baby

21.02.2026 18:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Donald J Trump, that all the world should be taxed.

21.02.2026 17:28 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Regarding calling it Armenian, when I worked for World Monuments Fund and was in charge of publicity, we were told by the Turkish Ministry of Culture to never use β€œArmenian” to describe any historically Armenian site in the country. I once slipped it into a press release right as we went to press 😈

20.02.2026 02:38 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0