National Register of Historic Places Nominations
The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government’s official list of places that are significant for their associations with a range of topics related to American history. Listing in the National Register suggests that a property is worthy of preservation. The National Park Service, as well as a historic preservation office in each state, oversees the list and approves additions. Liz Sargent HLA regularly prepares the documentation and other paperwork that can result in a property being added to the list.
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As well as being an honor, listing in the National Register affords tangible benefits, such as making your property eligible for rehabilitation tax credits or for some types of grants. Listing can also afford special consideration in situations where government funding is being used to develop infrastructure, such as a new road or utility corridor nearby.
In preparing a National Register nomination, Liz Sargent HLA first works with the client to determine if your application is likely to be successful, while also helping to address any questions about the implications of listing a property. When preparing the nomination, tasks will include documenting your property’s historic features using field investigations as well as researching its history. The work then proceeds through an evaluation of the property’s significance using National Register guidance and assessing integrity. There are typically one or more state review periods required for the document. As a result, a good rule of thumb is to allow 9 to 12 months for completion of the process.
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Liz Sargent HLA is also experienced in preparing National Historic Landmark nominations. A small percentage of historic properties are eligible for National Historic Landmark designation, and the process entails meeting stricter standards and going through additional review.
Pensacola Harbor Defense Project National Register Nomination
For nearly a century, Pensacola Harbor, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, served as a United States naval base, beginning soon after the United States gained Florida from Spain in 1821. The site later became the cradle of naval aviation. To protect the naval property, the United States established several coastal defense structures at the mouth of the harbor and around the base. These early defense systems, including Fort Pickens which remained in U.S. control throughout the Civil War, were later augmented by improved systems during the 1890s, a process that continued through World War II, as changes in weaponry posed new challenges. Today, the western tip of Santa Rosa Island contains evidence of coastal defense structures built over many decades protected in a unit of the National Park System known as Gulf Islands National Seashore. Visitors can learn about each of the defensive systems, often while watching the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels practicing their maneuvers overhead.
In conjunction with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. Liz Sargent HLA prepared nomination materials to list an 891-acre property for its association with the Pensacola Harbor Defense Project, a joint U.S. Army and U.S. Navy defensive system, in the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination explains the design of the numerous defensive structures and weaponry systems between the 1820s and the 1940s and articulates the role of the cultural landscape in the design of the defenses and other features that supported military use of the island.
Project Credits:
Client: National Park Service
Prime Contractor: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Flat Top Estate National Register Nomination
The Flat Top Estate manor house looks out towards dramatic scenery in western North Carolina near Blowing Rock. The house and an associated 3,000-acre property, the summer home of industrialist Moses Cone during the early twentieth century, was transferred to the National Park Service in 1949 for inclusion in the Blue Ridge Parkway. Although the property was otherwise retained relatively intact, the National Park Service extended the Blue Ridge Parkway through a portion of the property during the early 1950s as part of the scenic corridor’s 50-year construction history.
In 2013, Liz Sargent HLA worked with Wiss, Janny, Elstner Associates, Inc. to prepare the documentation to list the property in the National Register of Historic Places. In the nomination, we demonstrated how the estate is a significant example of American Country Place era (1890–1930) estate design, containing a combination of recreational and productive agricultural features, as well as evidence of sensitive design and management reflecting the conservation ethic of the Cone family. Among the notable features on the property are 21 miles of gravel carriage drives, with designed overlooks and views of the mountainous terrain, that were enjoyed by the Cones and their visitors and remain integral to the visitor experience today.
Project Credits:
Client: National Park Service
Prime Contractor: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial National Register Nomination Update
The monumental sculpture of four American presidents blasted from the face of Six Grandfathers Mountain (Mount Rushmore) n the Black Hills of South Dakota has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places for decades. However, the original National Register documentation addressed only 40 of the 1,278-acre national monument that includes the sculptures, omitting the environs of the mountain and the designed historic landscape that accommodates visitors, established during the New Deal era by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee labor.
Working in conjunction with Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects and Melissa Dirr Gengler, Liz Sargent HLA worked to update the original nomination and document the significance of the entire 1,200-acre Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The updated nomination detailed and evaluated site planning and design of the approach and arrival sequence, planting plans, interpretive trails and overlooks, and visual connections to nearby scenic roads. The documentation also described the importance of the landscape to Indigenous peoples and their lifeways suggesting a deeper meaning for Grandfather Mountain for which many visitors are not aware.
Project Credits:
Client: National Park Service
Prime Contractor: Bahr, Vermeer, Haecker Architects, Inc.
