State Historic Preservation Act

State Historic Preservation Act
Name	State Historic Preservation Act
Enacted by	State legislatures of the United States
Long title	State-level legislation to identify, protect, and manage historic resources
Date enacted	Various (20th–21st centuries)
Related legislation	National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Historic preservation in the United States, National Register of Historic Places

State Historic Preservation Act

State Historic Preservation Acts are state-level statutes enacted by state legislatures of the United States to identify, preserve, and manage historic resources, complementing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the National Register of Historic Places. These acts establish frameworks for inventories, designation, and protection of cultural resources associated with figures, events, structures, and sites such as Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Civil War battlefields, Lewis and Clark Expedition camps, and places linked to the Civil Rights Movement or Women's suffrage in the United States. They interact with federal statutes like the National Environmental Policy Act and local ordinances in jurisdictions including New York (state), California, Texas, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Background and Purpose

State Historic Preservation Acts arose in response to increased awareness following projects like the Interstate Highway System, controversies over demolition of landmarks such as Penn Station (New York City), and preservation movements led by organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Antiquarian Society. The acts aim to protect properties associated with George Washington, Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, Ellis Island, Mount Rushmore, and indigenous sites connected to groups such as the Navajo Nation and Cherokee Nation. They serve purposes similar to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966—identification, documentation, protection, and promotion of heritage resources including industrial heritage sites, historic districts of Boston, and maritime sites like USS Constitution.

Legal Framework and Scope

Each State Historic Preservation Act defines terms, criteria for designation, and jurisdictional scope, often referencing the standards of the Secretary of the Interior and practices used by the National Park Service. The statutes delineate protections for categories including historic districts of Charleston, South Carolina, archaeological sites connected to Ancestral Puebloans, and cultural landscapes such as Gettysburg National Military Park environs. They establish processes for treatment of properties linked to Slavery in the United States, Japanese American internment, Women's suffrage movement sites and works by architects like Louis Sullivan and I. M. Pei.

Administration and State Historic Preservation Offices

Administration typically occurs through a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) or equivalent within state agencies such as a State department of natural resources or State cultural affairs department. SHPOs coordinate with National Park Service, local historic preservation commissions, and nonprofit partners including the Historic American Buildings Survey, Preservation Maryland, and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. Officials work with scholars from institutions like Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Harvard University, and University of California, Berkeley on survey methodologies and nominations for registers.

Inventory, Designation, and Protection Processes

Acts require inventories of properties—buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts—using criteria paralleling the National Register of Historic Places and drawing on nominations for landmarks such as Statue of Liberty, Alamo, and Monticello. Processes include identification, evaluation, public notice, hearings before State historic preservation review boards, and designation of places, including African American historic sites and LGBTQ history sites like those in San Francisco or New Orleans. Protections can range from review requirements for federally funded projects under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to state-level permitting rules affecting projects on properties associated with Titanic (ship), Erie Canal, or Route 66.

Funding and Incentives

State acts often create or enable financial incentives such as tax credits, grants, revolving loan funds, and easements modeled after programs like the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives administered by the National Park Service and the Internal Revenue Service. Incentives support rehabilitation of properties associated with figures like Thomas Jefferson or cultural assets in places like Savannah, Georgia, Philadelphia, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Funding mechanisms coordinate with agencies such as state departments of revenue and private entities like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and foundations including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Compliance, Review, and Enforcement

Compliance provisions establish review procedures for projects affecting historic resources, involving SHPOs, State historic preservation review boards, and federal agencies per Section 106. Enforcement tools can include stop-work orders, penalties, or conditional approvals administered by state courts such as the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts or the Supreme Court of Virginia and agencies like the State attorney general offices. Case reviews often cite precedents involving sites like Penn Station (New York City), Old Post Office Pavilion (Washington, D.C.), and Skokie controversies.

Impact and Notable Cases

State Historic Preservation Acts have shaped outcomes in high-profile cases including preservation of Pennsylvania Station (Philadelphia), adaptive reuse of Old Post Office Pavilion (Washington, D.C.), conservation at Alcatraz Island, and protections for battlefield landscapes at Gettysburg National Military Park and Antietam National Battlefield. They influenced restorations of works by Frank Lloyd Wright, rehabilitation of Lowell National Historical Park mill complexes, and preservation of sites linked to Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Frederick Douglass. They also interact with tribal governments such as the Yakama Nation and Pueblo of Zuni on repatriation and protection matters under laws like the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Category:Historic preservation law Category:United States state legislation