53-457: The Montgomery–Grand–Liberty Streets historic district was the first of two to be designated in the city of Newburgh , New York , United States. It runs along the three named north-south streets in the northeast quadrant of the city and includes 250 buildings in its 1,010 acres (4.1 km). The later East End Historic District (Newburgh, New York) is nearby. Much of the district's historical character comes from its historic homes, dating to
106-425: A historic district . It can be any property, structure or object that adds to the historic integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, either local or federal, significant. Definitions vary but, in general, they maintain the same characteristics. Another key aspect of a contributing property is historic integrity. Significant alterations to a property can sever its physical connections with
159-498: A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA), and the historic commission or architectural review board may decide upon the changes. The COA process is carried out with all aspects of due process, with formal notification, hearings, and fair and informed decision-making. According to the National Park Service, historic districts are one of the oldest forms of protection for historic properties. The city of Charleston, South Carolina
212-444: A State Historic Preservation Office, not all states must have a "state historic district" designation. As of 2004, for example, the state of North Carolina had no such designation. Local historic districts usually enjoy the greatest level of protection legally from any threats that may compromise their historic integrity because many land-use decisions are made at the local level. There are more than 2,300 local historic districts in
265-558: A federal designation, such as granting qualifications and tax incentives. In addition, the property can become protected under specific state laws. The laws can be similar or different from the federal guidelines that govern the National Register. A state listing of a historic district on a "State Register of Historic Places", usually by the State Historic Preservation Office , can be an "honorary status", much like
318-400: A group of buildings, archaeological resources, or other properties as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects, and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts vary greatly in size and composition: a historic district could comprise an entire neighborhood with hundreds of buildings, or
371-591: A historic district per U.S. federal law , last revised in 2004. According to the Register definition, a historic district is: a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district may also comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history. Districts established under U.S. federal guidelines generally begin
424-609: A historic home can damage its historic integrity and render it non-contributing. In some cases, damage to the historic integrity of a structure is reversible, while other times the historic nature of a building has been so "severely compromised" as to be irreversible. For example, in the East Grove Street District in Bloomington, Illinois , contributing properties include the Queen Anne -style George H. Cox House (1886) and
477-530: A mesh of structures, streets, open space, and landscaping to define a historic district's character. As early as 1981, the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified 882 American cities and towns that had some form of "historic district zoning " in place--local laws meant specifically to protect historic districts. Before 1966, historic preservation in the United States was in its infancy. That year
530-528: A neglected asset. The Dutch Reformed Church had only recently been saved from demolition after almost a decade of vacancy; before that, the Crawford House had come close to being bulldozed for a school parking lot. In 1977, the city council enlarged the district greatly and renamed it the East End Historic District , including Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site and other buildings in
583-514: A price per square foot basis increased in value significantly more than non-designated properties. The original concept of an American historic district was a protective area surrounding more important, individual historic sites. As the field of historic preservation progressed, those involved came to realize that the structures acting as "buffer zones" were key elements of the historical integrity of larger landmark sites. Preservationists believed that districts should be more encompassing, blending
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#1733105775538636-456: A separate process unrelated to zoning. Local historic districts are identified by surveying historic resources and delineating appropriate boundaries that comply with all aspects of due process . Depending on local ordinances or state law, property owners' permission may be required; however, all owners are to be notified and allowed to share their opinions. Most local historic districts are constricted by design guidelines that control changes to
689-580: A smaller area with just one or a few resources. Historic districts can be created by federal, state, or local governments . At the federal level, they are designated by the National Park Service and listed on the National Register of Historic Places ; this is a largely honorary designation that does not restrict what property owners may do with a property. State -level historic districts usually do not include restrictions, though this depends on
742-423: A specific definition in relation to the National Register. All but the eponymous district category are also applied to historic districts listed on the National Register. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is a governmental acknowledgment of a historic district. However, the Register is "an honorary status with some federal financial incentives." The National Register of Historic Places defines
795-405: Is artificially restricted and the supply of new housing permanently capped in area so designated as 'historic'. Critics of historic districts argue that while these districts may offer an aesthetic or visually pleasing benefit, they increase inequality by restricting access to new and affordable housing for lower and middle class tenants and potential home owners. Housing advocates have argued that
848-468: Is classified as one of four property types : building, object, structure, or site. The line between contributing and non-contributing can be fuzzy. In particular, American historic districts nominated to the National Register of Historic Places before 1980 have few records of the non-contributing structures. State Historic Preservation Offices conduct surveys to determine the historical character of structures in historic districts. Districts nominated to
901-407: Is credited with beginning the modern-day historic districts movement. In 1931, Charleston enacted an ordinance which designated an "Old and Historic District" administered by a Board of Architectural Review. Charleston's early ordinance reflected the strong protection that local historic districts often enjoy under local law. It asserted that no alteration could be made to any architectural features
954-471: Is little more than recognition by the government that the resource is worthy of preservation. Generally, the criteria for acceptance to the National Register are applied consistently, but there are considerations for exceptions to the criteria, and historic districts influence some of those exceptions. Usually, the National Register does not list religious structures, moved structures, reconstructed structures, or properties that have achieved significance within
1007-482: Is not involved, then the listing on the National Register provides the site , property or district no protections. For example, if company A wants to tear down the hypothetical Smith House and company A is under contract with the state government of Illinois, then the federal designation would offer no protections. If, however, company A was under federal contract, the Smith House would be protected. A federal designation
1060-538: The David Crawford House , Old Town Cemetery , and Newburgh's main post office — are separately listed on the Register, and one, the Dutch Reformed Church , has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark . The district was defined and recognized by the city, then the state and finally the National Register when historic preservationists in the city worried about the effects of urban renewal on
1113-628: The Georgetown neighborhood in Washington, D.C. a historic district and protected. By 1965, 51 American communities had adopted preservation ordinances. In 1976 the National Historic Preservation Act was passed by Congress. By 1998, more than 2,300 U.S. towns, cities and villages had enacted historic preservation ordinances. Contributing properties are defined through historic district or historic preservation zoning laws, usually at
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#17331057755381166-728: The Louisiana Constitution led to the 1937 creation of the Vieux Carre Commission, which was charged with protecting and preserving the French Quarter in the city of New Orleans . The city passed a local ordinance that set standards to regulate changes within the quarter. Other sources, such as the Columbia Law Review in 1963, indicate differing dates for the preservation ordinances in both Charleston and New Orleans. The Columbia Law Review gave dates of 1925 for
1219-459: The National Park Service , the first instance of law dealing with contributing properties in local historic districts was enacted in 1931 by the city of Charleston, South Carolina ; it designated the " Old and Historic District ." The ordinance declared that buildings in the district could not have changes made to architectural features that were visible from the street. By the mid-1930s, other U.S. cities followed Charleston's lead. An amendment to
1272-560: The U.S. Conference of Mayors penned an influential report which concluded, in part, that Americans suffered from a sense of "rootlessness." They recommended historic preservation to help give Americans a sense of orientation. The creation of the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, on the heels of the report, helped instill that sense of orientation the mayors sought. The mayors also recommended that any historic preservation program not focus solely on individual properties but also on "areas and districts which contain special meaning for
1325-587: The 1878 Newburgh Free Library , the gambrel-roofed Selah Reeve House that carried Newburgh and the Hudson far and wide on a popular piece of 18th-century kitchenware, and many of Newburgh's oldest churches. All of the following are located in Newburgh, Orange County, NY: Historic districts in the United States Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing
1378-462: The 19th century. Many were built by local industrialists to take advantage of the views over the Hudson River available from the neighborhood. Some incorporated groundbreaking design trends pioneered by Newburgh native Andrew Jackson Downing , making the area important in architectural history . It was thus added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Three contributing properties —
1431-544: The Montgomery–Grand–Liberty corridor. The most visible example is the cobblestone surface of Liberty Street, neglected for many years and frequently cut open by local utility companies for repairs and resurfaced with asphalt . The city has restored it in patches and would like to do the entire street, but lacks the money. Many of the homes in the district (particularly the northern blocks) have been attractive to new residents who have often renovated them. Much of
1484-526: The National Register of Historic Places after 1980 usually list those structures considered non-contributing. As a general rule, a contributing property helps make a historic district historic. A well-preserved 19th-century mansion will generally contribute to a district, while a modern gas station generally will not. Historic buildings identified as contributing properties can become non-contributing properties within historic districts if major alterations have taken place. Sometimes, an act as simple as re- siding
1537-470: The National Register of Historic Places. If such an objection occurred, then the nomination would become a determination of National Register eligibility only. This provision is controversial because of the presumption that owners who do not file a formal objection support the designation, placing the burden on opponents. Most U.S. state governments have a listing similar to the National Register of Historic Places. State listings can have similar benefits to
1590-562: The National Register. For example, in Nevada , listing in the State Register places no limits on property owners. In contrast, state law in Tennessee requires that property owners within historic districts follow a strict set of guidelines from the U.S. Department of Interior when altering their properties. Though, according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, all states must have
1643-465: The New Orleans laws and 1924 for Charleston. The same publication claimed that these two cities were the only cities with historic district zoning until Alexandria, Virginia adopted an ordinance in 1946. The National Park Service appears to refute this. In 1939, the city of San Antonio, Texas , enacted an ordinance to protect the area of La Villita, the original Mexican village marketplace. In 1941
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1696-424: The United States is primarily based on arguments that such laws creating such districts restrict the supply of affordable housing, and thus the result of such districts is that of enforcing caste structures and class divisions by region and segments of urban areas. Several historic districts have been proposed not for a true preservation purpose but to prevent development. The issue of local historic districts and
1749-425: The United States. Local historic districts can be administered at the county or the municipal level; both entities are involved in land use decisions. The specific legal mechanism by which historic districts are enacted and regulated varies from one state to the next. In some areas, they are a component of zoning (where they are sometimes referred to as "overlay districts." In other places, they are created under
1802-646: The Vieux Carré Commission and authorizing it to act to maintain the historic character of the city's French Quarter . Other localities picked up on the concept, with the city of Philadelphia enacting its historic preservation ordinance in 1955. The regulatory authority of local commissions and historic districts has been consistently upheld as a legitimate use of government police power, most notably in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York (1978). The Supreme Court case validated
1855-530: The authority of local design controls on buildings within historic districts was being challenged in court. In City of New Orleans vs Pergament (198 La. 852, 5 So. 2d 129 (1941)), Louisiana state appellate courts ruled that the design and demolition controls were valid within defined historic districts. Beginning in the mid-1950s, controls that once applied only to buildings within historic districts were extended to individual landmark structures. The United States Congress adopted legislation in 1950 that declared
1908-417: The community." Local, state, and federal historic districts now account for thousands of historical property listings at all levels of government. Contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States , a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make
1961-421: The designation process through a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official recognition by the U.S. government of cultural resources worthy of preservation. While designation through the National Register does offer a district or property some protections, it is only in cases where the threatening action involves the federal government . If the federal government
2014-400: The district retains its original character of a leafy residential neighborhood. In addition to the four noted above, the district is also home to the W. E. Warren House , considered a textbook example of the villa-style house advocated by Downing (although designed by Calvert Vaux ), the 1842 Orange County courthouse designed by Thornton Niven (a copy of his contemporary Goshen courthouse ),
2067-522: The historic designation process has in many places been hijacked by NIMBY homeowners to block housing. The first U.S. historic district was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931, predating the U.S. federal government designation by more than three decades. Charleston city government designated an "Old and Historic District" by local ordinance and created a board of architectural review to oversee it. New Orleans followed in 1937, establishing
2120-442: The historic district significant. Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts
2173-627: The impact on property values concerns many homeowners. The effects have been extensively studied using multiple methodologies, including before-and-after analysis and evaluating comparable neighborhoods with and without local designation status. Independent researchers have conducted factual analysis in several states, including New Jersey, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Colorado, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, and elsewhere. As stated by economist Donovan Rypkema, "the results of these studies are remarkably consistent: property values in local historic districts appreciate significantly faster than
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2226-406: The last 50 years. However, if a property falls into one of those categories and are " integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria", then an exception allowing their listing will be made. Historic district listings, like all National Register nominations, can be rejected based on owner disapproval. In the case of historic districts, a majority of owners must object to nullify a nomination to
2279-437: The local level. Zoning ordinances pertaining to historic districts are designed to maintain a district's historic character by controlling demolition and alteration to existing properties. In historic preservation law, a contributing property is any building, structure, object or site within the boundaries of the district that contributes to its historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities of
2332-538: The market as a whole in the vast majority of cases and appreciate at rates equivalent to the market in the worst case. Simply put – historic districts enhance property values." In a 2011 study Connecticut Local Historic Districts and Property Values , it was found that "property values in every local historic district saw average increases in value ranging from 4% to over 19% per year." Similarly, in New York City between 1980 and 2000, local historic district properties on
2385-453: The neighborhoods south of Broadway. It established a zoning code to maintain a consistent appearance of new construction in the district and a seven-member Architectural Review Commission to enforce it. In 1985 a smaller version of the East End district was listed separately on the National Register. Some of the urban decay and blight that has been a problem in that district is visible within
2438-473: The past, lowering its historic integrity. Contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district. A property listed as a contributing member of a historic district meets National Register criteria and qualifies for all benefits afforded a property or site listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. Each property within a National Register historic district — contributing or non-contributing —
2491-462: The properties included in the district. Many local commissions adopt specific guidelines for each neighborhood's " tout ensemble " although some smaller commissions rely on the Secretary of Interior Standards. For most minor changes, homeowners can consult with local preservation staff at the municipal office and receive guidance and permission. Significant changes, however, require homeowners to apply for
2544-435: The property owner's consent or compensation for the historic overlay. Historic districts are generally two types of properties, contributing and non-contributing. Broadly defined, a contributing property is any property, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make a historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Different entities, usually governmental, at both
2597-516: The protection of historic resources as "an entirely permissible governmental goal." In 1966, the federal government created the National Register of Historic Places, soon after a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors had stated Americans suffered from "rootlessness." By the 1980s, there were thousands of federally designated historic districts. Some states, such as Arizona, have passed referendums defending property rights that have stopped private property from being designated as historic without
2650-702: The public could view from the street. Local historic districts, as in New Orleans and Savannah, Georgia , predate the Register by ten years or more as well. Local historic districts are most likely to generate resistance because of the restrictions they tend to place on property owners. Local laws can cause residents "to comply with (local historic district) ordinances." For example, homeowners may be prevented from upgrading poorly insulated windows unless they spend tens of thousands of dollars on identical styles. Criticism of historic districts in Chicago and elsewhere in
2703-525: The state and national level in the United States, have differing definitions of contributing property, but they all retain the same basic characteristics. In general, contributing properties are integral parts of a historic district's historical context and character. In addition to the two types of classification within historic districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are classified into five broad categories. They are: building, structure, site, district, and object; each one has
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#17331057755382756-442: The state. Historic districts created by local municipalities, however, almost always protect historic properties by regulating alterations, demolition, or new construction within the district. Much criticism has arisen of historic districts and the effect protective zoning and historic designation status laws have on the housing supply. When an area of a city is designated as part of a 'historic district', new housing development
2809-624: Was enacted in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931. Properties within a historic district fall into one of two types of property: contributing and non-contributing. A contributing property, such as a 19th-century mansion, helps make a historic district historic, while a non-contributing property, such as a modern medical clinic, does not. The contributing properties are key to a historic district's historic associations, historic architectural qualities, or archaeological qualities. A property can change from contributing to non-contributing and vice-versa if significant alterations take place. According to
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