ZELIENOPLE — Zelienople Historical Society members said their study of the history of borough buildings is ahead of schedule.

“We’ve been moving along pretty well,” said Tom Nesbitt. a society board member, who updated borough council Monday night on the project.

He said 600 houses and buildings have been surveyed, 300 of those being at least 100 years old, mostly on Main Street. Others are on New Castle Street.

Historical society members said the surveying portion of the project was scheduled to be completed by April. However, it may be done as early as February.

Society members decided to do the study after Brianna Regester, a 2011 Seneca Valley High School graduate and an Ursuline College graduate student, expressed interest in studying the borough’s history.

Regester is working on her master’s degree in historical preservation.

She and project team members have taken photographs of buildings from Green Lane to Division Street and from Grandview Avenue to the cemetery. New housing is not included in the study.

“She has been doing an excellent job,” society member Gwen Lutz said of Regester. “She’s getting the bulk of the information registered into the state system.”

Lutz and other members said Regester is the only one from the project team qualified to register the information because of her degree.

The team is researching buildings’ histories by using print and online resources, including the year each was built and construction details.

Team members will provide study information to council members who anticipate the creation of an ordinance protecting buildings of historical significance.

“We’re very hopeful of preserving these historical buildings,” said Jan Maharg, project manager and society member.

Nesbitt and the team received applause from borough council members when members gave their update.

“That’s incredible,” council President Allen Bayer said.

Nesbitt said the earliest map dates to 1901, created by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler and James B. Moyer. It is known as the Fowler Map.

“That’s online now in the Library of Congress,” he said.

The oldest buildings in the borough are the Buhl House and Passavant House, built in 1805 and 1808 respectively.

Nesbitt said the easiest way to determine construction dates is by looking at the materials that were used.

“Stone foundations were in the 1800s, and concrete block is modern,” he said. “The gap in between from about 1880 to 1930 is terra cotta block.”

He said the time frame for these buildings “may not be 100 percent perfect,” but is “pretty accurate.”

Nesbitt said at least a “couple hundred” hours have been put into this project.

“It’s a good thing I’m retired,” he said. “You learn a lot.”