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About the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of properties
recognized by the federal government as worthy of preservation for their local,
state, or national significance in American history, architecture, archaeology,
engineering, or culture. Although the National Register is a program of the
National Park Service, it is administered at the state level by each respective
state. In Ohio, the National Register program is administered by the Ohio Historic
Preservation Office.
What Makes a Property Eligible
for the National Register?
- Historic properties include more than just buildings. There are five
categories for historic properties that are listed in the National Register:
buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts.
- There are three evaluation standards that historic properties must
meet in order to be listed in the National Register. The property should be
at least 50 years old, retain its basic historic integrity and meet one of
the four established National
Register criteria.
- A quick definition of the four National Register criteria is that
the property must have significance for its association with broad patterns
of history, have association with the lives of persons significant in our
past, have architectural merit, or have the potential to yield information
important in history or prehistory (archaeology).
What National Register
Listing Does
- The listing of a building, structure, site, object or district in
the National Register of Historic Places accords it a certain prestige, which
can raise the property owners and community's awareness and pride.
- Income-producing (depreciable) properties which are listed in the
National Register individually or as part of a historic district may be aided
by federal tax incentives which allow for a 20 percent investment tax credit for certified rehabilitation.
- National Register listing is often a prerequisite for funding applications
for restoration work through various private, nonprofit organizations, such
as the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
What National Register
Listing Does Not Do
- National Register listing does not prevent the owner of the listed
property from remodeling, repairing, altering, selling, or even demolishing
it with other than federal funds. While property owners are not bound by restrictions,
the Ohio Historic Preservation Office strongly encourages owners of historic
properties to consider all options before completing work that could damage
the structure or impair its historic integrity. The Ohio Historic Preservation
Office, upon request, provides information on how to sensitively rehabilitate
and repair historic properties.
- National Register listing does not obligate an owner to make any repairs
or improvements to the property.
How Properties Are Chosen
For National Register Listing
- In Ohio, anyone may fill out the forms to nominate a property to the
National Register.
- Once a nomination is complete, the property owner(s), appropriate
local officials, and other interested parties are given an opportunity to
comment on the proposed listing. In the case of a historic district where
more than 50 property owners are involved, a public notice in the local newspaper
and a public hearing help ensure that every owner has the chance to respond.
- If a majority of owners of an individual property or within a historic
district object, the nomination will not be listed, but will be evaluated
for National Register eligibility. Following the notification period, the
nomination is scheduled for review by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation
Advisory Board. The board is a 17-member panel appointed by the governor to
advise the State Historic Preservation Officer. The board reviews the nomination
to determine whether it meets the criteria for listing in the National Register
of Historic Places. If the board decides that the property is eligible for
listing, the nomination is given the board's approval. The nomination is reviewed
a final time and signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer.
- The final step in the process is review by the National Park Service.
If the National Register of Historic Places staff approves the nomination,
the property is officially placed in the National Register by the Keeper of
the National Register of Historic Places.
For More Information
For more information on the National Register of Historic Places
contact the Ohio Historic Preservation
Office. To download a copy of the National Register Preliminary Questionnaire
in Adobe format click here. Click here
to download a copy in MS Word format.
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