MARION — Claire Dempsey and Jennifer Doherty have been selected as historic preservation consultants for the continuation of the Focused Historic Survey of Marion’s Portuguese and Cape Verdean Communities, according to a press release from the Marion Historical Commission. 

Work has begun to expand and update Marion’s Inventory of Historic Assets, initially completed in 1998, to make it more accessible, more easily usable and fully compliant with present-day state standards.

The project is funded by Community Preservation Act funds awarded by the town to the Historical Commission in 2020 and will be carried out over the next four months. 

Claire Dempsey is familiar with Marion history and, in 2019, completed a Survey Plan which made recommendations for completing a full survey of Marion’s historic and cultural resources. For this project, she and co-consultant Jennifer Doherty will expand research done in 2020 on the Portuguese and Cape Verdean communities. The work focuses on sections of Point Road both north and south of Wareham Road, and on sections of Mill Street near Gifford’s Corner.

The consultants are interested in talking with local residents who have knowledge, personal history and/or old photographs to share about the formation and development of the Portuguese and Cape Verdean neighborhoods of Marion. If you can help, contact Meg Steinberg, Marion Historical Commission, bmjb@comcast.net.

The results of the project will benefit individual property owners interested in the history of their homes as well as giving the broader community an understanding of local development and culture, according to the historical commission. It will also be a useful planning tool available to local boards to ensure development decisions are in keeping with goals for preservation of the Town’s historic resources.