Frequently Asked Questions

What is the National Register of Historic Places?
What are the benefits of listing?
What are the restrictions, rules, and regulations for historic property owners?
Can I modify, remodel, or renovate, my historic house?
How do I apply for grant money or tax credits?
How do I get a plaque?
How do I get a copy of the file you have on a property?
I am having a great deal of difficulty with your database.
How is a property listed in the National Register of Historic Places?
How can I update information for a property that is already listed?
I am pretty sure that a property is listed, but I cannot find it in your database, why is that?
How do I contact you, what is your address?
How old does a property have to be to qualify for listing?
I want to know if a property is listed, how can I do that?
I am a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, what can you do for me?
What are the definitions of some of the terms and acronyms you use?
What is the difference between a National Park, a National Monument, a National Memorial, a National Historical Park, etc?
I still have a question, how can I ask you?

What is the National Register of Historic Places?
The National Park Service administers the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. National Register properties have significance to the history of their community state, or the nation. Nominations for listing historic properties come from State Historic Preservation Officers, from Federal Preservation Officers for properties owned or controlled by the United States Government, and from Tribal Historic Preservation Officers for properties on tribal lands. Private individuals and organizations, local governments, and American Indian tribes often initiate this process and prepare the necessary documentation. A professional review board in each state considers each property proposed for listing and makes a recommendation on its eligibility. National Historic Landmarks are a separate designation, but upon designation, NHLs are listed in the National Register of Historic Places if not already listed.
You can find more information in our About Us section. You can find more information on the National Historic Landmarks program at their website.

What are the benefits of listing?
In addition to honorific recognition, listing in the National Register results in the following benefits for historic properties:

• Consideration in planning for Federal, federally licensed, and federally assisted projects: -- Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires that Federal agencies allow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment on all projects affecting historic properties either listed in or determined eligible for listing in the National Register. The Advisory Council oversees and ensures the consideration of historic properties in the Federal Planning process.
• Eligibility for certain tax provisions -- Owners of properties listed in the National Register may be eligible for a 20% investment tax credit for the certified rehabilitation of income-producing certified historic structures such as commercial, industrial, or rental residential buildings. This credit can be combined with a straight-line depreciation period of 27.5 years for residential property and 31.5 years for nonresidential property for the depreciable basis of the rehabilitated building reduced by the amount of the tax credit claimed. Federal tax deductions are also available for charitable contributions for conservation purposes of partial interests in historically important land areas or structures.
• Consideration of historic values in the decision to issue a surface mining permit where coal is located in accordance with the Surface Mining Control Act of 1977; and
• Qualification for Federal grants for historic preservation, when funds are available.
  Owners of private property listed in the National Register are free to maintain, manage, or dispose of their property as they choose provided that no Federal monies are involved.

You can find more information on the results of being listed on our results page.

What are the restrictions, rules, regulations for historic property owners?
From the federal perspective, the National Register of Historic Places is part of the National Park Service, a property owner can do whatever they want with their property as long as there are no federal monies attached to the property. You can find this on our website at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm
However, before this occurs, you can, or the property owner should contact the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO.) The SHPO is the state agency that oversees historic preservation efforts in their state. There may be state or local preservation laws that they should be aware of before they undertake a project with a historic property.
You can find contact information for the SHPOs at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/shpolist.htm
If federal monies are attached to the property then any changes to the property have to allow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (www.achp.gov) to comment on the project.

You can also read a copy of the National Register of Historic Places code of federal regulations at: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/regulations.htm
You can also find general information for owners at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm

Can I modify, remodel, or renovate, my historic house?
From the federal perspective, the National Register of Historic Places is part of the National Park Service, a property owner can do whatever they want with their property as long as there are no federal monies attached to the property. You can find this on our website at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm
However, before this occurs, you can, or the property owner should contact the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO.) The SHPO is the state agency that oversees historic preservation efforts in their state. There may be state or local preservation laws that the owner should be aware of before they undertake a project with a historic property.
You can find contact information for the SHPOs at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/shpolist.htm
If federal monies are attached to the property then any changes to the property have to allow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (www.achp.gov) to comment on the project.

You can also read a copy of the National Register of Historic Places code of federal regulations at: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/regulations.htm
You can also find general information for owners at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm

How do I apply for grant money or tax credits?
The National Register of Historic Places does not have a grant program ourselves. However, Heritage Preservation Services (a different division of the National Park Service, Cultural Resources Program) does have a tax credit program that may be of benefit to you. The website for the tax credit program is: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/tax/index.htm
Additionally, sometimes state historic preservation offices may have state run programs that could help. You can find contact information for the SHPOs at http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/shpolist.htm

How do I get a plaque?
Many sites listed on the National Register arrange for a commemorative plaque. Unfortunately the National Register of Historic Places does not issue plaques as a result of listing; rather we leave it up to the individual owners if they are interested in having one. If you do not have a local trophy/plaque store that you prefer, we know of several companies that advertise in Preservation Magazine that offer the type of plaques that you may be interested in. We are not endorsing or recommending any one company over another. We are merely aware that these companies sell plaques.

• All-Craft Wellman Products, Inc.
  4839 East 345th Street
  Willoughby, OH 44094
  www.all-craftwellman.com
  Phone: 800-340-3899
  Fax: 440-946-9648
  
• Bronze Plaque
  2121 Wingfield Rd.
  Charlottesville, VA 22901
  www.BronzePlaque.Net
  Phone: 434-984-1946
  TollFree: 877-50-PLAXX (877-507-5299)
  FAX: 434-295-3786
  
• Equestrian Forge
  222 S King St
  Leesburg , VA 22075
  703-777-2110
  
• Erie Landmark Company
  4449C Brookfield Corp. Dr .
  Chantilly , VA 22021
  1-800-874-7848
  
• Franklin Bronze Plaques
  191 Howard Street Franklin, PA 16323
  Toll Free: 866-405-6623
  Ph: 814-346-7205 Fax: 814-346-7047
  http://www.franklinbronzeplaques.com/
  
• Healy Plaques
  P.O. Box 4
  60 New River Road
  Manville , RI 02838
  1-800-995-0981
  
• LaHaye Architectural Bronze
  1149 Pomona Rd , Unit E
  P.O. Box 2319
  Corona , CA 91718-2319
  1-800-523-9544
  
• Mills Manufacturing, Inc.
  1920 Port City Blvd.
  Muskegon , MI 49442
  www.millsmfg.com
  1-800-824-0813
  
• Smith-Cornell Impressions Inc.
  567 1/2 East Riverview
  Napoleon , OH 43545
  1-800-325-0248
  www.smith-cornell.com
  
  
  
  (If your company sells these types of plaques, contact us and let us know.)

As far as phrasing is concerned, the National Register has no formal requirements or suggestions, but here are a few typical and accurate examples:
This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
or
(Historic name of your house) has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
You may want to indicate that the property is part of the historic district. In that case you may prefer:
This property is part of the Cool Spring Park Historic District, placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
or
The (historic name) House, part of the Cool Spring Park Historic District, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.

How do I get a copy of the file you have on a property?
We are currently digitizing our records and making them available online in our database at:
http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome

For properties that have not been digitized and put into the database you can request a copy by e-mailing us. Please be sure to include your name, mailing address, the historic name of the property, its location, including the State and County. If the property is in a historic district, please include the name of the district.

Depending upon our work schedules and how many requests we receive our turnaround time for copy requests is about 3 weeks.

I am having a great deal of difficulty with your database.

• We are aware of many problems with our current database. We are testing a new database, you can evaluate it at: http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome
• Currently we are digitizing our files and putting the resulting pdf documents into the new database. It will be several years before we finish converting all of our files.
• The current online database does not need a password or anything like that to use. There are buttons at the top of the screen with "login, logout, options, admin, etc." But you don't need to use these to use the database.
• If we have too many users on our database at one time it will essentially return error messages. The error message is usually "INVALID." In this case, just wait a few minutes and try to use the database again.
• We have a troubleshooting page for the National Register database at:
  http://www.nr.nps.gov/gottroubles.htm#IN

How is a property listed in the National Register of Historic Places?
The way a property gets listed in the National Register of Historic Places is that the forms and documentation go to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of the state where the property is located. The SHPO can take one of several options: reject the property, ask for more information, list the property just with the state, or send the forms to us for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Once we receive the forms, we conduct a similar review process.
You can read our page on Listing a Property at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm
You can find contact information for the SHPOs at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/shpolist.htm

How can I update information for a property that is already listed?
In order to update information in our file on a historic property the new information first has to go to the SHPO, and then from them to us. This process helps to ensure that the State and the National Register of Historic Places have the same information. So, if you feel that the information in the file needs to be updated, you should contact the SHPO to see what needs to be done there.
You can find contact information for the SHPOs at:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/shpolist.htm

I am pretty sure that a property is listed, but I cannot find it in your database, why is that?
The property could be within a historic district. A historic district is: a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development.
Unfortunately, our database does not include every address within historic districts. If you know the name of a historic district that the property is in, we can look in the file and verify that it is a contributing resource in the district. You can also contact the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of state where the property is listed. The SHPO is the state run agency that oversees historic preservation efforts in the state. They should be able to tell you what district the property is in.
The way a property gets listed in the National Register of Historic Places is that first all of the forms and paperwork go to the SHPO, then they decide if they want to send it to us at the National Register. So the SHPO is more local and more familiar with the properties, and may have information on the property if it is listed with the state, but not with us.

How do I contact you, what is your address?
You can contact us

• via e-mail
• Phone: 202-354-2211
• Phone to ask for information specifically on a listed property: 202-354-1495
• Mail -- If you mail something to us you can use:
  Employee Name (or National Register of Historic Places Reference)
  National Park Service
  Department of the Interior
  1849 C St., NW (2280)
  Washington , DC 20240-0001
  however, everything that goes through the C St. address will be irradiated (due to the anthrax scare shortly after 9/11), so if you are providing something that may be damaged (especially photographs), you can mail them via paid courier -- like Federal Express, UPS, etc. and use:
  Employee Name (or National Register of Historic Places Reference)
  National Park Service
  1201 Eye Street, NW (2280)
  Washington , DC 20005

How old does a property have to be to qualify for listing?
Generally, properties eligible for listing in the National Register are at least 50 years old. Properties less than 50 years of age must be exceptionally important to be considered eligible for listing. We have a bulletin on nominating properties that are less than 50 years old. Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties That Have Achieved Significance Within the Past Fifty Years

I want to know if a property is listed, how can I do that?
Please look at the NRIS, the National Register Information System, our database of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The NRIS is on our website at: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/research/ You can search by state and/or county and/or city. The NRIS is arranged by the historic name of the property. If you know the address of the property, but not the historic name, you will have to look at each listing in the county and/or city.

I am a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, what can you do for me?
Nothing that we wouldn't do for anyone else. The National Register of Historic Places is not the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We have worked together on various projects in the past, but we are completely separate organizations. We are a federal agency, supported by your tax dollars, we do not have any membership fees, etc. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private nonprofit organization with more than 270,000 members. You can visit their homepage for more information at: http://www.preservationnation.org.

What are the definitions of some of the terms and acronyms you use?
Bulletin 16A "How to Complete the National Register Registration Form" includes a glossary of terms that the National Register of Historic Places uses to evaluate historic properties.