DESIGN . BUILD . MAINTAIN . ONLINE

InHeritage Web / Online Development Services

Historical Organizations · Nonprofits · Artisans · Small Business

• August 14, 1999 — August 14, 2023 •

Historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia ©
The material and the craftsman’s thoughts change together in a progression of smooth, even changes until the mind is at rest at the exact instant the material is right.

Robert Pirsig › Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
InHeritage Web / Online Development: Design + Build + Maintain › Online
The INHERITAGE Portfolio • 1999-2023

2019-2023 • A High Note

Continuing with Crave until their buy-out in 2021, this phase was defined by mastering powerful new softwares for site customization. This, in turn, led to comprehensive upgrades for new (Abraham Lincoln Institute / Abraham Lincoln Association) and legacy (DeKalb History Center) historical organization clients—as well as a renewed partnership with the Supreme Court Historical Society. We were proud to go out on a high note.

2015-2018: A Change of Direction

A challenging phase for the business, we downgraded to a smaller, more local, and much more diverse pool of clients—including for the first time: small business and commercial ventures. We dedicated our efforts to CMS-driven sites with a laser-focus on long-term site maintenance + optimization, which remade IH into a formidable micro-business. We ended this span as development partner for real-estate marketing firm, Crave.

2008 - 2014: All In

This six year stretch was defined by full-time service with the White House Historical Association, Dave defining and implementing the role of web / online operations manager. Continued side work and consultation brought in a number of artisans that further expanded our range of clientele, the period itself marked by the momentous shift to responsive content-managed website development.

2003 - 2007: Diversification

With site design / development maturing, there was an industry shift towards more dynamic website + online media solutions. We broadened our scope with redesigns for existing clients and a more consistent focus on long-term maintenance + administration. In addition, we expanded our client base to include FDR’s Little White House Historic Site, California Supreme Court Historical Society, and our hometown DeKalb History Center.

1999 - 2002: Start-Up

The early years were filled with high profile success stories. Having set our sights high, we partnered with National History Day and were, in turn, referred to the White House Historical Association. This led to add’l partnerships with the U.S. Capitol Historical Society and Supreme Court Historical Society. We would work for all four in various capacities for years to come, producing a dozen online documentaries along with our site works.
InHeritage Web / Online Development: Design + Build + Maintain › Online
The InHeritage logo, based on a sidewalk brick pattern found in the historic Shenandoah town of Lexington, Virginia

An Island, An Idea, An Era

In the summer of 1999, Kerri & I toured the rugged island of Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine. We learned all about its rich history as a granite source for the architecture boom of the early 20th century. We had been seeking out like histories for years and felt that they all deserved a wider audience. We decided then and there to start-up a “digitization service” for local / regional historical organizations. Our plan: create digital archives of local history collections and push it all online. Our goal: preservation and presentation. Kerri suggested a spot on name that would stick: “in heritage”—an inherited responsibility to preserve our past. On August 14, 1999, we purchased our domain name and InHeritage was born … We had also created a service years ahead of its time (back when hosting plans were measured in MBs) that was also beyond the financial reach of most small societies.

Luckily, our initial marketing drive uncovered an even greater need: web development geared for the historical and nonprofit communities, really any info-rich, info-driven public facing venture. From the beginning, our clients, their needs and budgets, arrived in all sizes. Key to our working across such a wide spectrum was our talented network of sole proprietor professionals and strategic small business partners, each partner added for a specific developmental role and their stand-out creative ability. InHeritage was a virtual business from day one.

We watched technologies deemed “revolutionary” in their day come-and-go. But the advent of open-source content-management website systems would have the greatest impact on our approach: viewing a website as not just a single entity, but the hub of a system. Investing significant resources in serving the whole of these “site operations” (including the universe of vital services + optimization tasks beyond design and development), we came to realize that our service model applied naturally to the needs of small- to mid-sized commercial ventures too. This allowed us to diversify our focus and include the commercial alongside our core roster of historical societies, nonprofits, and independent artisan clients. Redefining who and how we served brought us into the modern era of dynamic device-independent solutions. And though we watched technology and standards evolve at frenetic speeds, we were able at all points to wrap advancements in the industry around our core inspiration: custom development designed to showcase unique quality content.

Thanks to all our clients who helped make our 24 years in business—August 14, 1999 – August 14, 2023—the top-tier success that it was.

Dave Buckhout