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City launches historic-elements survey to document plaques, statuary and monuments
Summary
Public Works Director Lynn Merrill described a volunteer-driven survey to photograph and geocode nonbuilding historic elements (plaques, monuments, statuary) and link them to the city's GIS; fieldwork has documented several parks and will be shared with the commission in late spring or early summer.
City Public Works Director Lynn Merrill told the Arts & Historical Commission that staff and Historical Society volunteers have begun a Historic Elements Survey to identify and record nonbuilding artifacts — plaques, small monuments, statuary and other elements that contribute to San Bernardino’s sense of place.
Merrill said the survey grew from a 2023 cleanup at Perris Hill Park, where damaged elements associated with the Camp Cajon site prompted concern from local historians. The project uses trained volunteers equipped with cell-phone cameras and the city’s GIS platform to record photographs, GPS coordinates and standardized survey forms describing each element, its inscriptions and condition. Merrill emphasized the effort focuses on above-ground elements on city-owned property; archeological subsurface work would require a different process and state consultation.
Merrill listed parks already documented including Lytle Creek Park, Perris Hill Park and Pioneer Park, and noted recent site work at the Feldheim Library where a remnant concrete wall might be a pioneer-cabin remnant under further research. He said two volunteers — Sam Catalano and other Historical Society members — volunteered to survey additional parks, and that the survey data will be transferred to the city and integrated into the city GIS for future planning and preservation work. Merrill indicated the commission will receive a full report once the database transfer and mapping are complete, likely in late spring or early summer.
Commissioners asked whether privately owned items (for example, plaques on private property) and nonvisual, subsurface artifacts would be included; Merrill said the current effort is limited to above-ground elements primarily on city property and that archaeological survey requirements are managed through the State Office of Historic Preservation and project-specific review.
The commission discussed ways to enrich future records (video surveys, additional photos) and how the Historical Society’s records would be transferred to the city for long-term management.
