High Country Life

Preservation projects often depend on individuals with strong personal commitment. Local historic preservation boards or associations can offer assistance from members who specialize in meeting project requirements.

The National Park Service oversees several grant programs designed to encourage community involvement in protecting historic resources, such as Save America’s Treasures grants and Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).

Historic Buildings

Historic preservation refers to efforts undertaken to conserve buildings, neighborhoods, archeological sites, landscapes and other properties that hold significant historic value for a community or society in general. Such properties often contribute to its sense of place while providing economic benefits or serving as educational resources.

Historic structures and properties can be preserved through various means, depending on their individual circumstances. Owners of historic properties may receive tax credits or incentives; additionally, funding may be available to help preserve or restore their property or make necessary improvements such as updating utilities. Local governments may assist in planning, permitting, and inspection processes while other agencies and organizations that assist in protecting historic properties may include:

Universities can assist historic preservation efforts by offering courses related to historic preservation. Such classes can teach students about different architectural periods while giving them hands-on experience studying real buildings. Volunteer professionals such as architects, engineers and attorneys may be available as part of their regular jobs or as community service projects to provide restoration or preservation assistance.

The National Park Service (NPS) manages the National Register of Historic Places and other historic preservation activities throughout the U.S. Their Historic Preservation Fund grants are given out annually, and provide state, territorial, tribal, disaster relief for historic properties as well as help under-represented communities to nominate their historic places for inclusion on the National Register.

Historic sites are places with significant historic events or sites of significance such as battlefields or town centers, for which significant historical events took place. The National Park Service has issued guidelines for how to restore or enhance historical buildings and landscapes while maintaining their unique character.

Preservation aims to maintain as much of a building’s original fabric and limit the rate at which it degrades, while rehabilitation repairs deteriorated historic properties (such as turning textile mills into condominiums) for other purposes than their original ones, while reconstruction restores missing elements for interpretive purposes.

Historic Sites

The National Park Service offers communities various means of encouraging the preservation of historic buildings and sites, with incentives that offset costs while regulations mandate preservation activities under certain conditions. They also have an educational arm, working closely with schools to introduce young people to preserving history through historic places.

Historic sites encompass structures, districts, objects or locations with historical or cultural significance in America, representing particular periods, locations, ethnic groups or cultural groups. Such landmarks add character and create opportunities for heritage tourism.

The United States boasts an abundance of cultural resources, many of which have been designated National Historic Landmarks by the National Park Service. Such designation indicates a site is of exceptional significance in American history or culture and should be preserved for future generations.

PreserveNet is an extensive, regularly updated web database designed to promote the preservation and restoration of historic places. This resource offers preservationists a searchable list of professional opportunities as well as links to state/local historic preservation offices as well as federal agencies/foundations funding historic preservation efforts.

The Secretary of the Interior has published Standards and Guidelines for Historic Rehabilitation as an invaluable resource. These standards aim to encourage responsible preservation practices that help safeguard irreplaceable cultural resources while serving as guidance for rehabilitation of historic properties and aid owners, planners, architects, engineers, contractors, and developers in making decisions that preserve its integrity.

Education of the public about historic preservation is an essential step toward its successful preservation. Much of this occurs on a local level through Town Boards of Health or Historic District Commissions educating their residents on its need and offering incentives to do so. At college level, many universities provide courses in architecture and historic preservation that introduce students to this topic while giving them hands-on experience restoring or conserving historic buildings.

Historic Landmarks

Historic preservation involves more than simply maintaining physical sites; it also involves nurturing cultural heritage. Fostering cultural heritage can attract tourists and boost local economies – for instance, an unsafe and uninhabitable building downtown was turned into a vibrant cultural hub that attracted people from across the city.

Historic landmarks are buildings, districts, objects, sites or structures recognized by the US government for their significant national historical importance. Achieve and maintaining this status may not always be straightforward or cost effective.

As such, many historic landmarks are maintained by government agencies or private nonprofit organizations. Private organizations may take on tasks like promoting the landmark, managing the site or providing interpretative tours. The National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places can also be an excellent way of finding historical sites located throughout the High Country region.

Other resources for finding preservation opportunities are state, county and city history societies. These organizations can provide valuable information about historic sites as well as help with planning, funding and grant applications. Furthermore, local governments often offer heritage tourism programs which may benefit businesses, residents and visitors.

Nearly all activities discussed will require some level of advocacy. This is particularly crucial when working on activities dependent on government – many incentives and regulations for historic preservation exist at policy-making level – where many incentives and regulations come from policymakers themselves. Advocacy involves convincing key decision-makers of its importance and benefits.

Individuals can do their part to support preservation by volunteering their time, expertise or labor – an ideal way to get involved if you don’t want to invest a large sum of money into preservation efforts. Neighborhoods and communities frequently form volunteer committees dedicated to keeping an eye on development activity and protecting buildings of historical or community importance from potential demolition or renovation work – these committees can serve as residents’ advocates when negotiating with developers.

Historic Preservation

Historic preservation – of buildings and other structures, neighborhoods, archeological sites, and landscapes – can enhance a community’s sense of history, foster pride in their past, draw tourists in for tourism purposes and bring economic benefits. However, government officials and the public must balance preservation needs with property owners’ rights to ensure preservationists do not use government authority to limit how individuals can use their own properties.

Many communities and neighborhoods enlist historic preservation committees (in addition to standing boards like Planning or Zoning Board of Appeals) as an extra measure to oversee development activity in the area and be an advocate for residents concerned that changes might alter their neighborhood’s character. Although often untrained volunteers, these volunteer groups dedicate considerable amounts of time researching properties and projects while making phone calls, writing applications, assisting surveyors, helping surveyors or even wielding shovels or hammers as needed.

Preservation societies provide individuals with ways to become engaged with preservation efforts locally. The National Trust for Historic Preservation maintains a list of these groups, such as organizations focused on battlefields or barns. Furthermore, Association for Preservation Technology International maintains membership-based organization which gives access to its extensive library of period building construction documents like architectural trade catalogs and house plan books.

The federal government offers various grants to support historic preservation efforts. For instance, the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs (HABS/HAER/HALS) collect and preserve information about historic buildings, landscapes, structures and sites to share with the nation – creating the largest archive of historical architectural, engineering and landscape documentation held at the Library of Congress.

Other federal grant programs support research and technical assistance as well as particular kinds of historic properties (like battlefields or railroad stations). The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Treating Historic Properties establish best practices to preserve our irreplaceable cultural resources; grants also exist to assist individuals cover costs associated with protecting their own properties.