Boston History Museums Looking Up and Down

The Old State House museum’s tower is being renovated, as the Boston Globe reported last week. The photo on the right, by David L. Ryan, shows the scaffolding that now sheathes the structure.

The Bostonian Society, owner of that historic structure, has created a not-unfamiliar-looking blog showing progress on the tower from the inside.

Meanwhile, up in the North End, the Paul Revere House is mapping its site using lasers and radar. I’m not sure I understand all that the Globe was saying, but here’s the gist:

Now surveyors from the Boston firm Harry R. Feldman Inc. and an academic team from UMass Boston [led by Prof. Allen Gontz] are collaborating to create a three-dimensional digital picture of the house and associated structures, the garden where water was once drawn from a hand-dug well, and even what's below ground, down to about 10 feet.

A picture of what’s above the surface, created by the Feldman firm using a laser scanner, is being stitched together electronically with a radar-generated image of what's underground produced by the UMass Boston team, so history—even the remains of a privy—can be protected as the space is enlarged.

The Globe also offers a slide show, and a video with the article.

Both museums remain open as this work goes on.