About BKR
Brian Knight has worked in social and architectural history in New England since 1997. He received a B.A. in Political Science and M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont.As a 36 CFR Part 61 qualified consultant, he specializes in cultural resource research, documentation, and evaluation. Through his work with architectural surveys, National Register nominations, visual impact studies and tax rehabilitation applications, Mr. Knight consistently follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Brian Knight has worked in social and architectural history in New England since 1997. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont. As a consultant meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards (36 CFR Part 61), he specializes in cultural resource research, documentation, and evaluation. His work spans architectural surveys, National Register nominations, visual impact studies, and Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit applications, all completed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. He also brings experience in education, non-profit management, museum interpretation, and archives and library administration, and has served on several museum, historical society, and planning boards.
Over the past seventeen years, Knight’s preservation work has included projects for private non-profits and local, state, and federal agencies. In addition to extensive work throughout Vermont, he has subcontracted for regional firms on projects in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Representative work includes a neighborhood survey for Bennington, Vermont, and a survey of modernist buildings in Burlington, Vermont.
During his tenure with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Knight served on the National Register evaluation committee, reviewing eligibility for a wide range of cultural resources, including statewide thematic studies of educational buildings, bridges, and diners. Through the federally funded survey program, he collaborated annually with approximately fifteen communities. His work included assisting with scopes of work and budgets, and reviewing National Register nominations and inventory forms. He worked closely with municipal officials, non-profit organizations, and private consultants to ensure the successful completion of preservation planning projects.
Knight has managed more than 150 preservation projects in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. His work encompassed window restoration for museums, additions to town halls, preservation plans for historic gardens, and the restoration of Tiffany stained-glass windows. He oversaw historic structure reports, feasibility studies, and condition assessments; developed scopes of work and budgets; evaluated work samples; and completed project closeouts. He also managed federal grant programs, including Save America’s Treasures and the National Maritime Grant Program, which involved projects ranging from repairing a diesel engine on a historic lifesaving vessel to replacing decking on the USS Massachusetts, a World War II battleship.
From 2001 to 2003, Knight served as Executive Director of Preservation Burlington, a non-profit organization dedicated to the city’s architectural heritage and quality of life. His responsibilities included producing walking tour brochures, coordinating an annual house tour, and researching Burlington’s historic properties.
From 2003 to 2009, Knight was curator of Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, Vermont. Hildene was the summer residence of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln. Knight developed policies and programs for the preservation, stewardship, and interpretation of the 412-acre site, which includes a 1905 Georgian Revival home, carriage barn, 1908 observatory, two eighteenth-century farmhouses, and associated outbuildings. He also oversaw the Lincoln Family Library and Research Center, which contains four generations of family books, papers, and documents. His exhibit work included “The Personal Abraham Lincoln,” “The North Shire and the Civil War: The Common Experience of Uncommon Valor,” and “The American Ideal: Abraham Lincoln and the Second Inaugural.” He organized major symposia, including “In the Shadow of Greatness,” on the lives of presidential descendants, and “Why It Matters: The Ten Most Important Elections in U.S. History.”
In 2020, Knight joined Hartgen Archeological Associates, a cultural resource management firm founded in 1973. Hartgen provides archaeological and historical resource services throughout the Northeast, with clients that include federal and state agencies, municipalities, non-profits, developers, and architectural and engineering firms.
Knight is the author of No Braver Deeds: The Story of the Equinox Guards, a history of Company E, 5th Vermont, during the Civil War, and Snowboarding in Southern Vermont: From Burton to the US Open, a history of snowboarding’s origins in Vermont
Digging for gold in my neighborhood
(Gold rush) where all the old buildings stood
(Gold rush) and they keep digging it down and down
(Gold rush) so that their cars can live underground
(Gold rush) the swinging of a wrecking ball
(Gold rush) through these lath and plaster walls
(Gold rush) is letting all the shadows free
(Gold rush) the ones I wish still followed me
-Death Cab For Cutie
(Gold rush) where all the old buildings stood
(Gold rush) and they keep digging it down and down
(Gold rush) so that their cars can live underground
(Gold rush) the swinging of a wrecking ball
(Gold rush) through these lath and plaster walls
(Gold rush) is letting all the shadows free
(Gold rush) the ones I wish still followed me
-Death Cab For Cutie