HABS/HAER/HALS

HABS/HAER/HALS
Name	Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record / Historic American Landscapes Survey
Abbreviation	HABS/HAER/HALS
Formed	1933 (HABS), 1969 (HAER), 2000 (HALS)
Jurisdiction	United States
Parent department	National Park Service
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.

HABS/HAER/HALS

The Historic American Buildings Survey, the Historic American Engineering Record, and the Historic American Landscapes Survey together form a coordinated documentary program that records built and designed environments across the United States for the Library of Congress. Established to create measured drawings, large-format photography, and written histories, the programs document subjects ranging from colonial-era houses to twentieth-century bridges and designed parks, with collections used by preservationists, architects, historians, and engineers.

Overview and Purpose

The programs aim to document structures and sites such as Independence Hall, Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Monticello, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Central Park as a permanent archival resource supporting National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Historic Sites Act of 1935, Library of Congress, National Park Service, and related agencies. Their purpose includes producing measured drawings in the tradition of Vitruvius and Athanasius Kircher models, large-format photography influenced by practitioners like Ansel Adams and Herman B. Wells, and historical reports comparable to work by Carter G. Woodson and Lewis Mumford. The programs inform decisions under statutes such as the National Environmental Policy Act and provide baseline documentation for projects involving Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertakings.

History and Development

Begun in the throes of the Great Depression under initiatives tied to the Works Progress Administration and influenced by preservationists such as Charles E. Peterson and advocates including John D. Rockefeller Jr., the first surveys recorded sites like Tuckahoe and Mount Vernon. The expansion of documentary practice paralleled midcentury preservation campaigns around Independence National Historical Park, Pennsylvania Station (1910) controversy, and the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, prompting establishment of specialized branches: the engineering record after events including the Johnstown Flood studies and the landscapes survey following debates over Olmstedian parks such as Prospect Park and Boston Common. Federal programs interacted with private bodies including the American Institute of Architects, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Historic Preservation Fund.

Programs and Methodologies

Survey methodology combines precision measured drawings in the manner of Andrea Palladio and drafting traditions from firms like McKim, Mead & White with large-format analogue photography advocated by figures associated with Farm Security Administration documentation such as Walker Evans. Engineering documentation applies standards used in analysis of structures like Brooklyn Bridge, Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Hoover Dam, and industrial complexes such as Homestead Steel Works and Lowell National Historical Park. Landscape documentation adapts methods from Frederick Law Olmsted plans, using measured site plans, planting lists, and historic landscape reports akin to studies at Mount Vernon Estate, Biltmore Estate, and Theodore Roosevelt Island. Cross-disciplinary teams work with conservation specialists from National Trust for Historic Preservation, curators from the Smithsonian Institution, and scholars at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University to produce archival-quality media.

Collections and Notable Surveys

Collections held in the Library of Congress include tens of thousands of items documenting subjects from Independence Hall and Monticello to industrial sites like Pittsburgh’s Carrie Furnace, transportation infrastructure including Route 66, and military-related sites such as Fort Sumter. Notable surveys cover architects and builders like Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Henry Hobson Richardson, and firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; engineering landmarks such as Eads Bridge, Panama Canal-related works, and Alaskan pipeline-era facilities; and landscapes from The High Line to Balboa Park. The collections also preserve documentation of vanished works including Pennsylvania Station (1910), demolished industrial complexes, and vernacular resources like Shotgun House (architecture) examples across the Gulf Coast.

Administration, Partnerships, and Funding

Administration resides within the National Park Service with archival stewardship by the Library of Congress and programmatic collaboration with state historic preservation offices such as those in Massachusetts, Virginia, and California. Funding sources historically include federal appropriations, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and private philanthropy from foundations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and corporate partners including engineering firms and architectural practices. Partnerships extend to professional organizations such as the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and academic programs at institutions like University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University.

Impact, Use, and Preservation Outcomes

The documentary collections inform treatment decisions for sites on the National Register of Historic Places and support rehabilitation projects under the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Researchers, preservationists, and designers draw on surveys when planning adaptive reuse of structures like Carnegie Libraries, stabilizing bridges like Roebling Suspension Bridge, or interpreting sites such as Ellis Island and Alcatraz Island. The archives have underpinned litigation, environmental review for Interstate Highway System projects, and heritage tourism initiatives for places including Colonial Williamsburg and Gettysburg National Military Park, contributing to the long-term preservation and public understanding of the American built and designed environment.

Category:Historic preservation