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By Jane Pieplow as featured in Volume 14 of  In Focus

In the fall of 2000, museum staff members were contacted by Suzanne and Jerry Noonkester, owners of “The 1906 House” bed and breakfast, who asked for help in getting their home listed on our State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. Their call came to my desk, and I agreed to give them the help they needed to see this project through. During my time as Director of the High Plains Museum in Goodland, Kansas, I was involved in getting a number of buildings listed on the Kansas and National Registers, so I had a pretty good idea as to where to start on the Noonkester’s project.

In Focus readers may wonder just when these registers were created and what purpose they serve. The National Register of Historic Places was created with the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966. The need for such an act came about because of a national concern that growth and development in cities and towns was threatening to destroy the historic fabric of our nation and its communities. The act recognized the importance of history, and the remains of history, to our sense of identity and stability as a nation.

The National Register list of the nation’s historic properties is maintained by the National Register Office, a department of the National Park Service, in Washington, D.C., and currently contains 66,000 historic properties. (Nevada has approximately 230 properties on that list, some of which are historic districts.)

Even though there may be no direct monetary gain from National Register listing, there are many benefits. The Register is an important tool for planning at the federal, state and local levels. The nomination process allows for a greater understanding of our history and ourselves. The Register is also an educational tool. Listing a building on the National Register is an honor and identifies the property as one that has been recognized as important to our history. Listed properties might also be eligible for federal preservation assistance, when such programs are available (e.g., the rehabilitation tax credit program, Historic Preservation Fund grants, etc.).

It is hoped that the act of listing a building on the National Register will further pride in this country’s history and prevent the destruction of historic properties. While some see historic preservation as threatening -- affecting private property rights and progress -- these are misconceptions. There are no protections or restrictions for properties on the National Register, as these buildings can be demolished or remodeled at will. (The only exceptions are listed properties that receive federal grant funds for improvements. These types of restoration projects must follow strict preservation guidelines.)

The establishment of the National Historic Preservation Act brought with it the need for each state to create offices that were responsible for coordinating the many activities of the NHPA. In 1966, the Federal Government created a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in each of the 50 states. These offices work with local citizens on preservation programs that receive federal funding, federal and state level restoration projects, state and local preservation planning, the National Register program, grant programs, the Certified Local Government program and others.

The State Register of Historic Places, established in 1979 under NRS 383.085, is maintained by SHPO and utilizes the same criteria for historic properties as the National Register. Properties that qualify for the National Register are automatically eligible for the State Register, but properties eligible for the State Register may not be eligible for the National Register because, in Nevada at least, National Register criteria have been applied more loosely by the SHPO and members of the State Board of Museums and History to allow more of Nevada’s historic structures to be acknowledged. Listing on the State Register requires owner consent, and, like the National Register, does not place protection over or restrictions on the property.

By encouraging the preservation and the appreciation of Nevada’s historic properties, the State Register brings significance to a local level and allows citizens to become more involved with their local history. Acquiring a listing on the State Register could also qualify a building for funding through the Commission on Cultural Affairs, which provides grants to rehabilitate historic buildings that will be used as cultural centers. (Oats Park School is an example of a local building which is listed on both the State and National Registers and which has received funding from the Commission on Cultural Affairs.)

Before any SHPO can get to work on State and National Register nominations, the kind of historic significance the structure may have must be determined. What constitutes a historic property? For both Registers, a historic property can be a building, a structure (a mining headframe, a bridge, a locomotive, a ship, etc.), an object (a statue, a fountain, etc.), a site or a district, which is comprised of any combination of the above types of properties (Virginia City Historic District, for example).

When a district is listed on the National Register, the properties contained therein are identified as “contributing” or “non-contributing” properties. For example, the Eureka Historic District contains the contributing historic Eureka Opera House, whereas a new fast food restaurant in the district would be considered a non-contributing property.

Historic properties can be listed on the National Register for four reasons:

1. association with activities in our past
         (mining, transportation, settlement, etc.)
2. association with important people
         (of national, statewide or local importance)
3. as a representative of the manmade expression of culture or technology
         (architectural examples)
4. ability to yield important information about prehistory or history
         (usually archaeological sites)

A likely historic site need only qualify for one of these four criteria to be eligible for the National Register. “Eligibility” is an important question when discussing the National Register because the listing process for historic properties is somewhat long and technically difficult. The most difficult element in listing a property on the National Register is a carefully worded essay which places the property in its historic context and answers the question “why is this an important site?”

Other required elements for the registration form include: a written legal description of the property, black-and-white photographs and a United States Geological Survey (USGS) site map pinpointing the historic site’s location.
After the completed National Register nomination is reviewed by the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, it is presented to members of the Board of Museums and History for review and approval. The nomination, if approved, can be added to the State Register and will then be forwarded to the National Register in Washington D.C. The National Register has 45 days to comment on the nomination, most of which are approved.