The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. Having a property on the National Register makes its owners eligible for tax incentives for expenses incurred preserving the property if they are offered by the local taxing districts.
The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966 established the National Register and the process for adding properties to it. Of the more than one million properties on the National Register, 80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing members within historic districts. Each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or through individual listings.
For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior. Its goals are to help property owners and groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, they do provide some financial incentive to owners of listed properties. No protection of the property is guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics in the fields of history and preservation, as well as the public, and politicians.
Occasionally historic sites outside the country proper, but associated with the United States (such as the American Embassy in Tangiers) also are listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, and multiple property submissions (MPS). The Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties: building, structure, site, object, and districts. Historic districts consist of contributing and non-contributing property types. Some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they come under the aegis of the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks (NHL), National Historic Sites (NHS), National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, and some National Monuments.
History
Main article: History of the National Register of Historic PlacesOn October 15, 1966 the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO). Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Register's creation, as well as any other historic sites within the National Park system. The passage of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. The 1966 act required those agencies to work in conjunction with the SHPO and an independent federal agency, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), to confront adverse effects of federal activities on historic preservation.
To encompass the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service under the U.S. Department of Interior, under director George B. Hartzog, Jr., established an administrative division called the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP). Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law. Ernest Connally was the Office's first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register. The division oversaw several existing programs, including the Historic Sites Survey and the Historic American Buildings Survey, as well as the new National Register and Historic Preservation Fund.
The first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. In the Register's earliest years during the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. Indeed, money was tight, but funds were still being supplied for the Historic Preservation Fund to provide matching grants-in-aid to listed property owners, first for house museums and institutional buildings, but later for commercial structures as well.
A few years later in 1973, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U.S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two "Assistant Directorates." Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation. From 1978 until 1981 the lead agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) within the United States Department of Interior.
In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs. Jerry L. Rogers was picked to lead this newly merged associate directorate. He was described as a skilled administrator, who was sensitive to the need for the NPS to work with SHPOs, academia, and local governments.
Although not initially spelled out in the 1966 act, the role of the SHPO eventually became integral to the process of listing properties on the National Register. The 1980 amendments to the 1966 law further laid out the responsibilities of SHPO concerning the federal National Register. Several 1992 amendments to the NHPA added a classification to the National Register, known as Traditional Cultural Properties, being properties associated with Native American or Hawaiian groups.
The National Register of Historic Places has grown considerably from its beginnings as legislation in 1966. In 1986 citizens and groups nominated 3,623 separate properties, sites, and districts for inclusion on the National Register, a total of 75,000 separate properties. Of the more than one million properties on the National Register, 80,000 are listed individually. Others are listed as contributing members within historic districts.
Property owner incentives
Properties are not protected in any strict sense by the Federal listing. States and local zoning bodies may or may not choose to protect listed Historic Places. Indirect protection is possible, through state and local regulations on development of National Register properties, and through tax incentives.
Until 1976 tax incentives were virtually non-existent for buildings on the National Register. Before 1976 the federal tax code favored new construction over the reuse of existing, sometimes historical, structures. After 1976 the tax code was altered to provide tax incentives that promote preservation of income-producing historic properties. The National Park Service had the responsibility to ensure that only rehabilitations that preserved the historic character of a building would qualify for the federal tax incentives. Properties and sites listed on the Register, as well as those considered contributing properties to a local historic district "approved by the Park Service," became eligible for the federal tax benefits.
Owners of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places may be eligible for a 20% investment tax credit for the "certified rehabilitation of income-producing certified historic structures." The rehabilitation may be as commercial, industrial, or residential property, for rentals. The tax incentives program is operated by the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program, which is jointly managed by the National Park Service, SHPO, and the Internal Revenue Service. Aside from the 20% tax credit, the tax incentive program offers a 10% tax credit for rehabilitation to owners of non-historic, non-residential buildings constructed before 1936.
Some property owners may qualify for grants as well, for instance the Save America's Treasures grants, which apply specifically to properties entered in the Register at a national level of significance or designated as National Historic Landmarks.
The NHPA made no distinction between properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places and those designated as National Historic Landmarks concerning qualification for tax incentives or grants. This was deliberate on the part of the authors of the 1966 act. Their experience had shown that categories of significance caused the lowest category to become expendable. Essentially, this reduced the Landmarks to little more than the "honor roll" of the National Register of Historic Places.
Nomination process
Any individual can prepare a National Register nomination, although historians and historic preservation consultants often are employed for this work. The nomination contains basic information on the type of significance embodied in the building, district, or site. The State Historic Preservation Office receives National Register nominations and supplies feedback to the nominating individual or group, which is accomplished via a
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