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| National Register | |
|---|---|
| Name | National Register |
| Type | federal program |
| Established | 1966 |
| Administered by | National Park Service |
| Legislation | National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 |
National Register The National Register is the United States' official list recognizing historic places, sites, districts, structures, and objects deemed significant under federal law. It interfaces with preservation practice involving the National Park Service, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the Secretary of the Interior, and state-level offices such as the State Historic Preservation Officer and the Historic American Buildings Survey. The list connects with landmark programs including the National Historic Landmarks Program, tax incentives like the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, and federal undertakings guided by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Register catalogs properties associated with prominent events such as the Civil War, the American Revolution, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the Civil Rights Movement, and with persons including Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr.. It includes architectural works by figures like Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, I. M. Pei, Richard Morris Hunt, and Julia Morgan, and sites connected to cultural expressions such as Jazz, Blues, Broadway, Harlem Renaissance, and Native American heritage exemplified by places related to the Navajo Nation and the Cherokee Nation. The Register complements inventories maintained by entities like the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and state historical societies such as the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Origins trace to mid-20th-century preservation debates involving the Wyoming Historic Preservation Commission, the Historic Sites Act of 1935, and responses to urban renewal projects in cities like New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Legislative momentum built through actors including Senator Henry M. Jackson, preservationists at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and professionals from the American Institute of Architects, culminating in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 signed during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Early listings highlighted sites such as Independence Hall, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Gettysburg Battlefield, and Alamo, while later expansions incorporated places tied to African American history, Latino heritage, Asian American communities, and LGBTQ sites like those in Stonewall Inn contexts.
Eligibility draws on criteria related to association with events like the Homestead Act, association with significant persons such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks, architectural significance tied to styles like Beaux-Arts, Gothic Revival, Art Deco, and movements represented by practitioners such as Frank Gehry and Philip Johnson. Criterion-based evaluation employs guidance from the Secretary of the Interior and references to case studies involving Ellis Island, Alcatraz Island, Haleakalā, Mount Rushmore, and industrial sites like Harland and Wolff-style shipyards. Considerations include integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, and association, and special provisions cover archaeological sites related to Paleoindian occupation and Mississippian cultures.
Nominations typically proceed through the State Historic Preservation Officer with public input from municipal bodies such as New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, tribal historic preservation officers representing groups like the Navajo Nation, and non-governmental organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Documentation standards reference archival resources at the National Archives, photographic surveys from the Historic American Buildings Survey, and scholarly synthesis found in journals from the Society of Architectural Historians and the American Historical Association. Final review occurs at the National Park Service with determinations involving the Keeper of the National Register and consultation with agencies including the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Classifications include individual buildings like Empire State Building, historic districts such as French Quarter (New Orleans), sites like Plymouth Rock, structures like the Brooklyn Bridge, and objects including Statue of Liberty-related artifacts; they also encompass landscapes like the Blue Ridge Parkway and industrial complexes such as Lowell National Historical Park. Special categories address Historic Districts, Archaeological Districts, Cultural Landscapes, Historic Sites, and Traditional Cultural Properties associated with indigenous groups including the Hopi and Lakota. Multiple Property Documentation Forms allow thematic groupings tied to subjects like Route 66, Underground Railroad, Women's Suffrage, and regional architectural movements in places like New England and the Pacific Northwest.
Listing confers recognition and access to incentives such as the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program and grants administered by the National Park Service, but it does not by itself restrict private owners absent local ordinances like those enforced by the Boston Landmarks Commission or San Francisco Planning Department. Regulatory effects arise through Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act consultations with federal agencies such as the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Highway Administration, influencing projects like reservoirs, highways, and base realignments exemplified by cases at Cape Canaveral and Fort Monroe.
Administration is centered in the National Park Service with coordination among State Historic Preservation Offices, tribal historic preservation officers, and partners like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Smithsonian Institution, and academic programs at institutions such as Columbia University, University of Virginia, Yale University, and University of California, Berkeley. Maintenance practices draw on conservation standards from the Secretary of the Interior and technical guidance produced by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training and professional bodies including the American Institute for Conservation and the Association for Preservation Technology International.