This blog was formed three years ago today. As I pointed out in my first– and second-year anniversary posts, I started it to chronicle my summer at Preservation Institute: Nantucket. Now, I write about placesI have traveled or preservation topics I find interesting.
Last year at this time, I was struggling to begin my career in historic preservation, but things have improved since then. I am now gainfully employed as an architectural historian for a Florida cultural resources management company. The highlight of that job came in August when I sat in the cockpit of a space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center while working on a project for NASA. Moreover, I write a biweekly column about historic multifamily adaptive reuse projects for the real estate/design website Curbed.com.
Gator Preservationist continues to grow. In the past year, I added a corresponding Facebook page, which is liked by 33 people, not including myself. Almost every day, I post links to articles on preservation, history, urban planning, and design. I also post the links to my latest Curbed columns and blog entries.
In the past three years, this blog and its 66 posts have been viewed 15,542 times, though about 100 of those hits were me after Word Press unknowingly logged me out. This is up from 2,490 after the first year and 6,409 last year. Prior to this year, I had topped 500 page views in a month only once. In the past year, I have eclipsed 1,000 a month three times!
The most popular post this past year was Cocoon House with 1,448 hits, bringing its all-time total to 1,600. Of the posts written in the past year, the top three most popular were:
The busiest day was April 16, 2012, when I received 184 hits–a record for this site. This is the day after I posted Gainesville’s Glen Springs Pool and the same day an article on the pool appeared in the Gainesville Sun. The Glen Springs post represents my best work of the year, as does my entries on the Revere Quality House and Sarasota High School. I’m surprised The High Line post didn’t receive more hits, with just 16.
I was back in Newport, Rhode Island, last weekend, so look for posts on the Casino and Cliff Walk in the following months. I also will be relocating to Sarasota, so I will likely continue to write entries related to that city. Later this year, I anticipate return visits to Chicago and New York. And, of course, I have at least one trip planned to Charleston. Thanks for reading.
Gator Preservationist 
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