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Defining the National Register

of Historic Places

First Published in the Roanoke Rapids Sunday Herald on March 10. 1996

Americans are proud of their heritage and are honored when properties in their communities and State are entered in the National Register. Historic properties in a community are tangible links with the Nation's past that help provide a sense of identity and stability.

The National Register, which recognizes the values of properties as diverse as a dugout shelter of an Oklahoma pioneer settler, the Breakers Mansion in Newport, and a 12,000-year-old prehistoric site, has helped many to appreciate the richness and variety of their heritage.

Listing properties in the National Register often changes the way communities perceive their historic resources and gives credibility to efforts of private citizens and public officials to preserve these resources as living parts of our communities. Listing in the National Register, however, does not interfere with a private property owner's right to alter, manage or dispose of property.

The National Register should not be confused with other initiatives that may set up a historical commission, design review committees, or special zoning ordinances.

What is the National Register

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register (NR) is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources.

The NR is administered by the National Park Service under the Secretary of Interior. Properties listed in the NR include districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. These resources contribute to an understanding of the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation.

Results of the National Register

Listings in the NR has the following results which assist in preserving historic properties:

* Recognition that a property is of significance to the Nation, the State or the community.

A NR listing is primarily an honor, meaning that a property has been researched and evaluated according to established procedures and determined to be worthy of preservation for its historical value.

Consideration in the planning for Federal or federally assisted projects.

All properties and districts listed in or eligible for listings in the NR are considered in the planning of federal undertakings such as highway construction and Community Development Block Grant projects.

NR listing does not provide absolute protection from federal actions that may affect the property. It means that if a federal undertaking is in conflict with the preservation of a NR property, the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office will negotiate with the responsible federal agency in an effort to eliminate or minimize the effect on the historic property.

An example of this has already taken place in Weldon. Recently the Town of Weldon received federal funds through a Community Development Block Grant to rehabilitate housing in the areas of Second and Third Streets, West of the railroad tracks. Realizing that many of the structures were listed as contributing properties to a possible future historic district, The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties were applied to the rehabilitation of the houses.

The importance in doing this assures the integrity of the original design and construction of the houses are not lost to a fix up project. Some examples of what has been required is that the houses could not be covered over with vinyl siding or doors and windows replaced with ones that were of different size and design from the originals.

Eligibility for Federal tax incentives and other preservation assistance.

Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a privately owned building that is listed in the NR or is a contributing building in a NR historic district may be eligible for a 20% federal income investment tax credit claimed against the costs of a qualified rehabilitation of the building. These currently apply only to income-producing, depreciable properties. The cost of the rehabilitation must equal or exceed the adjusted basis or the building (original cost minus land value, minus previous depreciation, plus previous capital improvements). Work on the buildings must meet federal rehabilitation standards.