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There are over 70,000 listings of historic buildings, structures, sites,
objects, and districts in the National Register across the United States
and its territories.
The first nominations from North Carolina were submitted in 1969. Today
there are over 2,100 National Register listings in the state. In recent
years the state has submitted an average of 45 new nominations per year
to the National Register. Most nominations are prepared by private consultants
working for local governments or for private property owners. Nominations
are carefully prepared and screened in the review process, and 99% of
all nominations from North Carolina have been successfully listed. A list
of all National Register entries in North Carolina as of the end of the
most recent half-calendar year, arranged alphabetically by county and
giving name, town or vicinity, and date listed, may be viewed on the State
Historic Preservation website, and a printed list is available from the
State Historic Preservation Office for $5.00.
Of the 2,100 total listings in North Carolina, about 300 are historic
districts, some of which contain several hundred contributing historic
buildings or sites. Types of districts include residential neighborhoods,
commercial districts, prehistoric and historic archaeological districts,
industrial complexes, mill villages, and rural farming districts. Since
the first historic district nominations did not include complete lists
of all properties within district boundaries, it is not possible to determine
the precise number of historic properties in North Carolina that are listed
in the National Register. The National Park Service estimates that approximately
30,000 historic properties in North Carolina are listed in the National
Register either as individual listings or as contributing properties within
districts. Properties within districts that contribute to the historic
character of the district are eligible for federal environmental protections
and benefits to the same extent as if they were individually listed.
Of all North Carolina properties listed in the National Register, approximately
85% are privately owned and 15% publicly owned. About 70% are listed at
a local level of significance, 25% at a statewide level, and 5% at a national
level of significance. The level of significance at which a property or
district is listed does not affect its eligibility for benefits or the
consideration it receives in environmental review processes.
North Carolina's National Register listings reflect the whole spectrum
of the state's human experience through its long history: prehistoric
Indian sites; shipwreck sites; modest log houses of settlers and slaves;
houses and outbuildings of ordinary farmers and townspeople; the mansions
of wealthy planters and merchants; churches of all sizes and denominations;
courthouses, schools and other public buildings; commercial buildings
of many types; and industrial and transportation buildings and sites.
Listings vary from 10,000-year-old archaeological sites to the 1953 Dorton
Arena at the State Fairgrounds. What all these places have in common is
that they reveal in a tangible way some important aspect of past life
in North Carolina and its diverse communities.
The State Historic Preservation Office reviews approximately 4,000 federal
and state actions annually to determine their potential effects on properties
listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register. Where a federal
or state undertaking is in conflict with the preservation of a National
Register property, the State Historic Preservation Office will negotiate
with the responsible agency in an attempt to eliminate or minimize the
effect under procedures prescribed by federal law (Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation
Act of 1966) or state law (G.S. 121-12a).
From 1976 through 1999, over 700 National Register properties in North
Carolina were rehabilitated under federal
historic preservation tax incentive programs, representing an investment
of over $300,000,000 in National Register properties in the state. A new
state credit for non-income-producing historic structures, inaugurated
in 1998, has stimulated 22 million dollars in construction activity for
250 historic private residences in its first two years.
The Restoration Branch of the State Historic Preservation Office offers
technical restoration consultation services to owners of historic properties,
including municipal and county governments, churches, businesses, and
private property owners. Restoration Branch staff provides consultation
services to more than 2,000 historic properties in a typical year. Restoration
staff is located in Raleigh [phone: (919) 733-6547], Asheville [phone:
(828) 274-6789], and Greenville [phone: (252) 830-6580].
Since the mid-1970s two-thirds of North Carolina's 100 counties and
scores of municipalities have participated in survey and planning grant
projects co-sponsored with the State Historic Preservation Office to conduct
comprehensive surveys of historic properties and prepare nominations of
properties and districts to the National Register of Historic Places.
Many other counties have participated in regional reconnaissance surveys.
The Survey and Planning Branch maintains an estimated 68,000 survey files
with photographs and information about historic structures. The Office
of State Archaeology maintains information concerning the approximately
30,000 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites recorded in the state.
Forty-one counties and thirty-two municipalities have published historic
architecture survey catalogues, many of which are still in print and available
for purchase from the State Historic Preservation Office.
For information about why the National Register was
created and what listing means to a property owner, see NATIONAL
REGISTER FACT SHEET 1, "WHAT
IS THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES?"
For an explanation of National Register criteria for
evaluation, see NATIONAL REGISTER FACT SHEET 2," NATIONAL
REGISTER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION."
For information about how properties and districts
are listed in the National Register, see NATIONAL REGISTER FACT SHEET
3, "HOW HISTORIC
PROPERTIES ARE LISTED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES."
See the handout titled "A
COMPARISON OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES WITH LOCAL HISTORIC
DISTRICT AND LANDMARK DESIGNATIONS" for an explanation
of the differences between the two programs.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Historic structures and the National Register:
Survey and Planning Branch, (919) 733-6545.
Archaeological sites and the National Register:
Office of State Archaeology, (919) 733-7342.
Preservation tax credits and technical restoration assistance:
Restoration Branch, (919) 733-6547.
Grants to local governments and organizations for historic property
surveys and National Register nominations:
Grants Coordinator, Administration Branch, (919) 733-4763.
Lists of available architectural survey publications:
Administrative Assistant, Administration Branch, (919) 733-4763.
Address correspondence to the appropriate branch named above at:
State Historic Preservation Office
N.C. Office of Archives and History
4617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh NC 27699-4617
The National Register program is governed by the following federal
and state rules and regulations: 36CFR Part 60 (interim rule), 36CFR
Part 61 (final rule), and North Carolina Administrative Code T07: 04R
.0300.
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