Regarding my earlier post about how history intruded on the present.
A little hysterical society trivia. I know of a man who owned a house in the hysterical district in Alabama. His house was on the hysterical registry. He wanted to make the house more livable and had an architect draw up plans to hide modern conveniences like air-conditioning behind a wide anti-bellum style porch that would have been period correct for the house. The hysterical society refused, saying it had to remain exactly as it was. So, he studied the rules and there was nothing about what color he could or could not paint it. So, he hired a painter and had it painted hurt-your-eyes purple with big yellow circles. When the society complained, he pointed out the rules. They approved his original proposal and he painted the whole thing Colonial White.
On the other hand, some major discoveries have been made as a result.