Historic Sites Act

Historic Sites Act

The Historic Sites Act of 1935 is a United States statute that established a national policy for the preservation of historic and prehistoric sites, buildings, and objects. It authorized the National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior to survey, document, and protect cultural resources, and to designate National Historic Landmarks, influencing subsequent federal preservation law. The Act intersected with New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps and shaped relationships among federal agencies, state historic preservation offices, and private organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Background and Legislative History

Congress debated preservation policy amid the Great Depression and expanding federal involvement in conservation.Franklin D. Roosevelt and advisors in the Department of the Interior confronted losses of sites tied to figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and events like the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Early precedents included the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906; advocates from the American Institute of Architects, the American Historical Association, and the Garden Club of America pressed for stronger protection comparable to measures affecting Mount Vernon and Appomattox Court House. Legislative framers referenced reports by the National Park Service director and hearings in the United States Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys before final passage by the Seventy-fourth United States Congress.

Purpose and Provisions

The Act declared a national policy to preserve historic sites, structures, and objects associated with persons such as Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, and events like the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Provisions empowered the Secretary of the Interior to make surveys and reports, authorizing the National Park Service to acquire properties and to mark them with plaques similar to those at Independence Hall and Gettysburg Battlefield. The statute created the National Historic Landmarks program, enabling designation of landmarks associated with figures including Eleanor Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, and movements like the Women's Suffrage movement. It also authorized cooperation with state entities such as the New York State Historic Preservation Office and organizations including the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress for documentation projects like the later Historic American Buildings Survey.

Implementation and Administration

Administration of the Act fell primarily to the National Park Service under successive directors, working with the Department of the Interior and Cabinet officials appointed by presidents like Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman. Implementation involved inventories of sites tied to explorers like John Smith, architects such as Thomas Jefferson (as designer), and authors such as Mark Twain whose homes became preserved places. The Act guided federal purchases and easements at locations including Mount Rushmore and cooperative agreements with state and local governments, municipalities like Philadelphia, and private stewards such as the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Documentation initiatives produced plans archived at the National Archives and Records Administration and reproduced in collections at the Library of Congress.

Impact on Historic Preservation Practices

The Historic Sites Act shaped preservation practice by formalizing criteria for significance connected to persons and events like Sacagawea and Louisiana Purchase, influencing later frameworks used by the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It catalyzed professional fields including historic architecture conservation taught at institutions like Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania, and supported programs by non-governmental groups such as the American Antiquarian Society. The Act prompted survey methodologies employed in projects related to Ellis Island and industrial heritage sites like Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. Its landmark designation authority raised public awareness through sites like Alcatraz Island and preserved landscapes linked to John Muir and the Conservation Movement.

Major Amendments and Related Legislation

The Historic Sites Act preceded and influenced major statutes such as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the Antiquities Act (earlier precedent), and later amendments affecting the National Register of Historic Places and state historic preservation offices created under the National Historic Preservation Act. Executive actions by presidents including Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter shaped implementation priorities, while congressional measures such as appropriations acts and amendments to the Historic Sites Act refined acquisition and stewardship authorities. Related programs—Historic American Engineering Record, Historic American Landscapes Survey, and the Historic American Buildings Survey—extended the Act's documentary mission in cooperation with the Library of Congress and the National Park Service.

Category:United States federal historic preservation legislation