Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Historic sites/California historic sites task force

California Historical Landmarks, etc., in 2019 edit

This WikiProject / sub-project of WikiProject Historic sites has been inactive for quite a while, but it remains true that there is a very large body of California historic sites worth covering in Wikipedia, especially the California Historical Landmark ones and those doubly listed in CHL and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and there's obviously room for development and discussion.

The current Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Rockville_Stone_Chapel (AFD about Rockville Stone Chapel, recently created by User:Onel5969 (thanks!) reminds me of this topic area. Please consider commenting there!

I wonder if editors involved long-ago and recent editors could get connected a bit more here, and maybe some good stuff could get done? To shout out to a few: editors who started or developed many CHL articles include User:Howcheng, User:Missvain, User:Smallbones (names which I find from browsing in a few articles). User:cbl62, User:Emargie, User:Fettlemap, User:Killiondude, User:PKM, User:Rosiestep joined this Wikiproject/Task Force as participants back in 2011(?) or at least didn't mind being listed as such. Howcheng started the List of California Historical Landmarks back in 2005 and created many individual site articles. I think Missvain actually did quite a bit of development completely on her own for a long period around 2012, if I recall correctly, without getting any positive recognition about it that I am aware of, about when she got a lot of negative flak (unrelated) that I thought was unfortunate :( . Feel free to invite/ping/share about your own or others' contributions.

Glancing at a few of the CHL county-list articles and some of their links, this system looks to me like it could use some tender loving care. Editorial standards are higher now, and more sources are available online. The California OHP system info, at least brief write-ups are now available online now. Full copies of extensive nomination documents are now available online for all the NRHP-listed places. I see that numerous items for historic sites in the list-articles are redirected to articles about persons or events associated with the site, but having little or no coverage about the historic sites themselves. Separate articles are warranted for many of these. Any other gripes/comments/suggestions? I wonder about a joint editing drive, or just some sharing of notices here about our accomplishments? --Doncram (talk) 15:33, 3 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

@Doncram: It would be nice indeed, but I barely have enough time to get my daily OTD updates done, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass. howcheng {chat} 15:40, 3 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
Hey @Doncram:, thanks for bringing our names together. Indeed, I enjoy working on these articles, but right now, I'm focused on a Wikidata project regarding pre-XX-c women writers. Maybe next year. --Rosiestep (talk) 15:42, 3 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
Hi Doncram - Thanks for the shout-out (although it's not clear whether you were saying I created the article or created the AfD discussion, but from context I think you meant I created the article), but the article creator was Olef641, not I. I simply reviewed it and did a light cleanup.Onel5969 TT me 16:32, 3 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

Women's clubs in California edit

Relating to the above section, there are still a number of historic women's clubs in California that deserve at least a quick article. The following items in List of women's clubs' section on California are the least covered:

I am not immediately sure how to search among the state's California Historical Landmarks for any others. I wonder if User:WomenArtistUpdates, User:Megalibrarygirl, and/or I could take a crack at some of these. I'll make some effort anyhow. --Doncram (talk) 16:03, 3 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

@Doncram: it always surprises me (though by now it shouldn't) that there's so many notable women's organizations missing from Wikipedia. :( Megalibrarygirl (talk) 20:30, 4 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
Doncram I see you note that the Woman's Improvement Club Clubhouse in Corona is NRHP-listed. Have you found the NRHP doc? I can't seem to find it. I'll try to work on these, but meanwhile I am excited to have gotten "Votes for women!: a portrait of persistence", the catalog from the show at the National Portrait Gallery. I was on the wait-list at the library and will only have it for three weeks. I am working on the WiR Focus on Suffrage project. Please ping me if there is an NRHP doc though. Thanks! WomenArtistUpdates (talk) 00:44, 5 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
WomenArtistUpdates, yeah NRHP doc for Corona (now linked in stub article) and almost all other California NRHPs are available, even correctly linked from NRHP infobox generator tool. —Doncram (talk) 20:48, 8 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
WomenArtistUpdates, thanks for developing the the Norco article. Hmm, the now-100-year-old Corona Norco Settlement House (currently a redlink) which it mentions, might be as important! And is not yet mentioned in either List of active settlement houses or List of historic settlement houses! Again thanks. --Doncram (talk) 02:35, 9 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
Hi Doncram. I couldn't find anything on the settlement house either. I get a warning from my browser when I go to https://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. Do you? WomenArtistUpdates (talk) 00:47, 10 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
Yeah, WomenArtistUpdates, sorry about that warning from that National Park Service website, which maybe prevented you from finding or seeing the Corona document, i guess. I and others encountered that, discussed it, and let it get archived at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places/Archive 68#NPS site error (new?), and NRIS reference issue without addressing it. The National Park Service needs to change some settings. I just over-rode the warning and go on into the "dangerous" site; you can too, but I should still do something to get the NPS to change whatever. --Doncram (talk) 04:41, 10 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

Sonoma County NRHP photos edit

I wonder if the Sonoma County Historical Society or local librarians could be contacted towards rounding up historic photos for two destroyed places, which according to our info remain listed on the NRHP despite being gone:

  • Cloverdale Railroad Station December 12, 1976 / (#76000536) Railroad Ave. /38°48′14″N 123°00′41″W Cloverdale Destroyed by fire September 25, 1991[7]
  • Geyserville Union School October 24, 1979 / (#79000558) Main St. / 38°42′28″N 122°54′23″W Geyserville Demolished in 1994[8]

For these, even if there are no photos from pre-1927 or otherwise in the public domain, a "fair use" argument can be successfully made to use copyrighted photos to illustrate Wikipedia articles.

And there are three relatively recently listed ones for which getting new photos should be easy for anyone local:

  • Baker House December 12, 2018 (#100003234) / 35292 Timber Ridge Rd. / 38°41′30″N 123°25′13″W Sea Ranch
  • Sonoma Valley Woman's Club January 7, 2015 (#14001115) 574 1st St., E. / 38°17′26″N 122°27′25″W Sonoma
  • Cunningham-Hembree Estate July 9, 2018 (#100002638)9225 Foxwood Dr. / 38°33′08″N 122°48′40″W Windsor

Those are the five most-needed photos in National Register of Historic Places listings in Sonoma County, California. Other sites missing photos are archeological sites, locations not published. --Doncram (talk) 04:32, 20 January 2021 (UTC)Reply