The National Register of Historic Places: An Historic Preservation Planning Tool?

Authors

Brent Donald Nelson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

First Advisor

James McGraw

Date of this Version

5-1991

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College in the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of the requiremnts for the degree of Master of Community and Regional Planning

Major: Community and Regional Planning

Under the supervision of Professor James McGraw

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 1991

Comments

Copyrght 1991, Brent Donald Nelson

Abstract

This paper answers three questions: 1) What is the National Register of Historic Places? 2) Does the National Register act as an historic preservation planning tool? 3) Did the administrative changes made to the National Register nominating procedures in 1986 enhance or improve any planning tool functions that it may have had?

The author, based on preliminary research and personal experience hypothesized that the answers to the first two questions would be that the National Register is a list that acts primarily as an "honor roll" bestowing distinction and recognition onto properties placed on it and only secondarily as a planning, community development, and historic triage tool.

This hypothesis was not correct. The consensus among professionals in the field is that the National Register functions primarily as an historic preservation planning tool by separating historically significant from nonsignificant properties.

It is the only planning tool used to separate historically significant from nonsignificant properties. As envisioned, it would function as an extremely important and successful planning tool. It does not yet function very well as an historic preservation planning tool because it has not yet been completed.

The third question asked was: "Did the administrative changes made to the National Register nominating procedures in 1986 enhance or improve any historic preservation planning tool function that it may have had?" The answer to that question is "no." Though sound in theory, the 1986 changes to the National Register nominating procedures do not help the Register’s planning functions because they make the requirements for placement too complex and too expensive.