Orange County NC Website
31 <br />NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY <br />- ~ STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE <br />NATIONAL REGISTER FACT SHEET <br />HOW HISTORIC PROPERTIES ARE LISTED IN <br />THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES <br />Who Administers the National Register Program? <br />The National Register of Historic Places is a list maintained by the National Pazk Service of build- <br />ings, structures, sites, objects, and districts that are significant in American history, azchitecture, <br />archaeology, engineering, and culture, and that meet criteria for evaluation established by the <br />National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Nominations to the National Register are submitted from <br />each of the states by the State Histaric Preservation Officer (SHPO). In North Carolina, the SHPO <br />is the Director of the Division of Archives and History. The section within the Division that admuiis- <br />ters the National Register and related programs is the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Section, <br />also called the Historic Preservation Office (HPO). The personnel of the Historic Preservation <br />Office serve as staff for the SHPO in National Register activities and duties. <br />In every state, a review board examines potential nominations and makes recommendations to the <br />SHPO regazding the eligibility of properties and the adequacy of nominations. In North Cazolina, the <br />review board is called the National Register Advisory Committee (NRAC}. The NRAC meets <br />quarterly (January, April, July, October) to consider the eligibility of properties for nomination to the <br />National Register. ~ Nominations prepared under the supervision of the HPO staff and approved by the <br />NRAC are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in the National Pazk Service in Washing- <br />ton, D.C. Final authority to list properties in the National Register resides with the National Park Ser- <br />vice. <br />How are Eligible Properties Identified? <br />Properties and districts that may be eligible for the National Register are usually brought to the atten- <br />tion. of the HPO staff and the NRAC either (1) through a county or community survey of historic <br />properties co-sponsared by the Historic Preservation Office and a local government or organization; <br />(2) by interested individuals who provide preliminary information about properties to the HPO staff; <br />or (3) through historic property surveys conducted as part of the environmental review process. <br />Persons who seek National Register listing for properties that have not been recorded in survey <br />projects co-sponsored by the Historic Preservation Office may submit a "Study List Application" to <br />the HPO. If adequate information and color slides of the property are included with the application, <br />the NRAC will consider the property at its next quarterly meeting. If in the opinion of the NRAC the <br />property appeazs to be potentially eligible for the National Register, it is placed on the Study List. <br />This action by the NRAC authorizes the HPO staff to work with the owner to coordinate a formal <br />nomination of the property to the National Register. <br />The NRAC can best evaluate the eligibility of an individual property within the context of a <br />community-wide or regional inventory of historic or prehistoric properties. This provides a basis for <br />comparing the relative significance of similar types of historic or .prehistoric properties in a com- <br />munity or region. In counties or communities where no such inventory has been assembled, the NRAC <br />will sometimes find it necessary to defer a decision about the eligibility of an individual property until <br />a comprehensive survey of historic properties has taken place. Likewise, the. NRAC ma consider <br />some properties as contributing components within larger districts but not as individually eligible. <br />Information about grants to local governments for local historic property surveys and nominations is <br />available from the Historic Preservation Office. <br />(see other side) <br />