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National Register Fact Sheet 2, Paje 2
<br /> APPLYING THE CR1T UUA
<br /> The two principal issues to consider in determining eligibility for the National Register are"significance"and"integrity."
<br /> A property may have"significance" for association with important events or patterns of history(criterion A); for association with
<br /> an important historical figure(criterion B); as an important example of period architecture, landscape, or engineering(criterion C);
<br /> or for the information it is likely to yield(criterion D, applied to archaeological sites and districts,and sometimes applied to certain
<br /> types of structures). A National Register nomination must demonstrate how a property is significant in at least one of these four
<br /> areas. For properties nominated under criterion A, frequently cited areas of significance are agriculture, community planning and
<br /> development, social history, commerce, industry, politics and government, education, recreation and culture, and others. For tech-
<br /> nical reasons, criterion B (significant person)nominations are rare. Criterion C(architecture)is cited for most,but not all,nomina-
<br /> tions of historic buildings. Archaeological situ are always nominated under criterion D, but may also have significance under one
<br /> or more of the other three criteria.
<br /> Properties are nominated at either a local, state, or national level of significance depending on the geographical range of the impor-
<br /> tance of a property and its associations. The level of significance must be justified in the nomination. The majority of properties
<br /> (about 70%)are listed at the local level of significance. The level of significance has no effect on the protections or benefits of list-
<br /> ing.
<br /> Besides meeting one or more of the above criteria, a property must also have "integrity" of "location, design, setting, materials,
<br /> workmanship, feeling, and association.*This means that the property must retain enough of its historic physical character(or in the
<br /> case of archaeological sites, intact archaeological features)to represent its historic period and associations adequately.
<br /> All properties change over time, and in some cases past alterations can take on historical significance in their own right. The degree
<br /> to which more recent, incompatible, or non-historic alterations are acceptable depends on the type of property, its rarity, and its-
<br /> period and area of significance. Buildings with certain types of alterations are usually turned down by the National Register
<br /> Advisory Committee. For example, 19th and early 20th century wood frame buildings thit have been brick veneered in the mid-
<br /> 20th century are routinely turned down for loss of historic integrity. .
<br /> Criteria Exceptions
<br /> The criteria exclude birthplaces and graves of historical figures, cemeteries, religious properties, moved buildings, reconstructions,
<br /> - commemorative properties, and properties less than 50 years old, with certain exceptions. The following exceptions are sometimes
<br /> r..
<br /> encountered:
<br /> Historic churches that retain sufficient architectural integrity can usually be successfully nominated under criterion C (architecture),
<br /> sometimes together with criterion A for social or religious history.'
<br /> Cemeteries may sometimes successfully be nominated under criterion C when they retain important examples of historic stone carv-
<br /> ing, funerary art, and/or landscaping, and they also may be eligible under criterion A or criterion D. However, both the National
<br /> Register Advisory Committee and the National Register have turned down nominations of graves when the historical importance of
<br /> the deceased is the sole basis for the nomination. The National Register was created primarily to recognize and protect historic
<br /> places and environments that represent how people lived, worked, and built in the historic past. Human burials are recognized and
<br /> protected under other laws and programs.
<br /> Moved buildings may sometimes be successfully nominated under criterion C for architecture when they remain in their historic
<br /> communities and the new setting adequately replicates the original setting. Tate point to remember is that the program is called the
<br /> National Register of Historic P cgs not Historic Buildings or Historic Things, because significance is embodied in locations and
<br /> settings as well as in the structures themselves. Buildings moved great distances, buildings moved into incompatible settings (such
<br /> as a farmhouse moved into an urban neighborhood or a downtown residence moved to a suburb), and collections of buildings
<br /> moved from various locations to create a pseudo-historic "village* are routinely turned down. In some cases, the relocation of a his-
<br /> toric building to a distant or incompatible setting may be the last and only way to save it, and such an undertaking may be
<br /> worthwhile. However, sponsors of such a project must understand that the property subsequently may not be eligible for the
<br /> National Register.
<br /> If a property is less than 50 years old, it can be nominated only if a strong argument can be made for exceptional significance. For
<br /> example, Dorton Arena on the State Fairgrounds was completed in 1953. It was successfully nominated to the National Register in
<br /> 1973 as one of the most important examples of modernism in post-WWII American architecture.
<br /> 12/15/92
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