Local Historic District: is a district with contiguous boundaries established by a local government entity. The buildings contained within the district are all related by form, style, and/ or development patterns pertaining to the established period of significance.
Preservation: The maintenance and repair of existing historic materials and retention of a property’s form as it has evolved over time with no new alterations or additions. It is one of the four treatments of historic structures.
Mitigating: Removing or limiting damage to the integrity of historic resources. It also pertains to removing the danger of hazardous material in a building or on a site.
Property Inventory/ Survey: A database that includes details regarding the type, style, use, significant features, and photographs of historic properties determined to meet specified historic context and/or period of significance.
Mothballing: The practice of closing off the building envelope to protect vacant structures from damaging elements, such as weather and animals. Preservation Brief 31
Reconstruction: Recreation of a building or site that once existed but was lost through reconstruction. One of the four treatments of historic structures. Example: Williamsburg.
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966: Commonly referred to as NHPA or NHPA 1966 (16 USC 470). It is the enabling federal legislation governing the preservation of cultural and historic resources in the United States. It guides the national preservation program and established the National Register of Historic Places to encourage the identification and protection of cultural and historic resources of national, state, tribal, and local significance.
Rehabilitation: It is the most common treatment for historic buildings. Rehabilitation recognizes the need to alter or add to a historic property to meet continuing or changing uses while retaining the property’s historic character as it has evolved over time. Example. The White House and the majority of historic buildings in your city. One of the four treatments of historic structures.
National Park Service: Commonly referred to as NPS. The NPS is the federal oversite agency for the majority of Historic Preservation programs and houses the National Register of Historic Places. National Register Criteria: The established criteria for evaluating the eligibility of historic resources for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. A historic resource or district must be related to one of the following criteria at the local, state, and/or national level: a significant event, a significant person, an example of significant design/construction approach, or it has the potential to yield significant information (archeology). National Register District or Listing: is a national designation from the National Park Service. A national register district does on impose any regulatory restrictions on properties, is an honorific title only. A property that is listed individually or as part of a district and is not a private residence is eligible for the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits. National Register of Historic Places: Commonly called the National Register. Created by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places encourages the identification and protection of cultural and historic resources of national, state, tribal and local significance. It is the official list of the Nation’s significant historic places worthy of protection. National Trust for Historic Preservation: Commonly referred to as the National Trust. The National Trust the national nonprofit organization dedicated to historic preservation. The trust provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to further preservation in the United States. Main Street was originally a program developed by the National Trust. Non-Contributing Property: Used in historic resources surveys and pertains to properties that are not 50 years or older and/or have lost historic integrity or significance. These properties are not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Restoration: Takes a property back to a specific period of time or date and removes all the evidence of later time periods. One of the four treatments of historic structures. Example: Monticello. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards: Commonly referred to as the Secretary’s Standards. There are standards for each of the four historic structure treatments: preserving, restoring, rehabilitation, and reconstructing. They are intended to provide guidance on responsible preservation practices and function as the best practices for work on historic properties to maintain a property’s significance. Federal Rehabilitation Tax credit project must follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Section 106: This process determines the effect that a federally funded project has on a resource and then seeks ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the effects. Section 4f: Is included in the US Department of Transpiration Act of 1966 and states the Federal Highway Administration and state departments of transportation agencies cannot approve the use of land from a significant publicly-owned public park, recreation area, wildlife or waterfowl refuge, or any significant historic site. Unless the following conditions apply: (1) There is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use of land and (2) The action includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the property resulting from use. Stabilization: The process of returning a building, object, or material to state of balance and safety.
