Statewide Conference on Heritage
Three Days of Ideas, Inspiration and Connection
Historic preservation is more than protecting buildings. It is about strengthening communities, telling fuller stories, finding new uses for meaningful places, and creating a future that values what came before.
Join Preservation Pennsylvania at the historic Yorktowne Hotel, September 15–17, for the 2026 Pennsylvania Statewide Conference on Heritage. Over three engaging days, preservationists, planners, architects, engineers, historians, public officials, nonprofit leaders, community advocates, students, and property owners will come together to learn from one another and explore the opportunities and challenges facing historic places across the Commonwealth.
The conference offers practical sessions, compelling case studies, mobile workshops, walking tours, emerging technologies, and candid conversations about what it takes to move preservation projects forward. Explore topics ranging from adaptive reuse, historic tax credits, archaeology, bridges, climate resilience, and local preservation ordinances to augmented reality, drones, workforce development, community partnerships, and the preservation of overlooked stories.
York itself will serve as our classroom. Experience successful rehabilitation and adaptive reuse projects, discover the stories embedded in the city’s neighborhoods, and gather at the Yorktowne Hotel – a once-threatened landmark that now demonstrates the transformative power of preservation.
The conference also includes opportunities to reconnect with colleagues, meet new partners, exchange ideas, and celebrate exemplary work through the 2026 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards. Admission to the Awards is included with full conference registration.
Whether you work in preservation every day or are working to protect one place that matters deeply to your community, you will find useful information, new connections, and renewed inspiration in York.
Come ready to learn, share, explore, and help shape the future of preservation in Pennsylvania.