Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office

Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office

The Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office administers statewide preservation policy and stewardship for historic properties across Louisiana. It coordinates nominations to the National Register of Historic Places and oversees compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, linking federal programs such as the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation with local entities including the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation and the Office of Cultural Development. The office operates from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and engages with municipal governments like New Orleans and regional bodies such as the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to protect sites from threats including projects reviewed under the Section 106 process and incidents like Hurricane Katrina that affected the French Quarter and other heritage districts.

History

The office traces its origins to the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which established State Historic Preservation Offices nationwide and linked state efforts to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Early programming intersected with major preservation milestones including listings for properties associated with the Louisiana Purchase era and antebellum sites tied to figures like Jean Lafitte and Andrew Jackson. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the office worked on projects related to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center area, stabilization efforts for structures in the Garden District, New Orleans, and responses to industrial impacts near the Mississippi River Delta. Catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 prompted large-scale disaster recovery initiatives coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s disaster response programs. Over decades the office has overseen nominations for landmarks like the St. Louis Cathedral and the Laura Plantation, while adapting to preservation trends influenced by the Historic American Buildings Survey and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Organization and Governance

The office is administratively situated within the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and collaborates with the Louisiana Board of Historic Preservation and the State Historic Preservation Officer appointed under state law. Governance frameworks align with federal statutes including the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and procedures established by the National Park Service. Operational divisions mirror national models such as the Historic Preservation Fund administration, architectural review units akin to the Historic American Engineering Record, and archaeological programs similar to those of the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Anthropology. Regional staff maintain liaison roles in parishes across the state, coordinating with parish commissions in places like Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, and St. Tammany Parish, and engaging municipal preservation commissions in Lafayette, Louisiana and Shreveport, Louisiana.

Roles and Responsibilities

The office manages National Register nominations, conducts surveys and inventories of historic sites, reviews federal undertakings under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and issues determinations of eligibility for properties associated with events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. It provides technical guidance on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, administers the Historic Preservation Fund grants, and enforces compliance for projects impacting resources tied to the Louisiana Purchase and cultural landscapes like the Cajun Prairie. The office also maintains records for archaeological sites related to indigenous groups documented by institutions such as the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science and collaborates on interpretive initiatives with museums including the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Programs and Initiatives

Key programs include statewide survey efforts that have documented architectural resources from Creole cottages in New Orleans to plantation complexes like Oak Alley Plantation, as well as thematic nominations for resources associated with Jazz and Creole culture that intersect with institutions such as the Louisiana State Museum and the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The office administers Certified Local Government partnerships modeled on National Park Service guidelines, oversees rehabilitation tax credit applications aligned with the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program, and runs outreach initiatives with educational partners such as the Tulane School of Architecture and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Disaster recovery programs leverage coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s resilience frameworks, while stewardship projects have included easements and adaptive reuse exemplified by renovations in the Warehouse District, New Orleans and efforts around the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

Partnerships and Funding

The office sustains partnerships with federal agencies including the National Park Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers for projects such as levee and coastal restoration work affecting historic sites. It collaborates with nonprofit partners like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, regional groups such as the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, and academic institutions including Louisiana State University and Xavier University of Louisiana for research, training, and public history programming. Funding is a mix of federal grants from the Historic Preservation Fund, state appropriations through the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, disaster relief funds administered after events like Hurricane Katrina, and private philanthropy from foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that support conservation, documentation, and community-led preservation initiatives.

Category:Historic preservation in Louisiana