NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
How to Get a Property Listed
The first step in having an Arkansas property listed on the National Register of Historic Places is completion of a Determination of Eligibility form. The AHPP requests information and photographs regarding the property so staff members can determine whether the property meets standards for National Register recognition. Download the Determination of Eligibility form.
Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station
If the property is found to be potentially eligible, you next complete the National Register form, which can be downloaded. The completed form will be presented to the AHPP's State Review Board, which meets three times annually. If the board nominates the property, the nomination is forwarded to the National Park Service for final determination of whether the property is eligible for the National Register. See the State Review Board schedule and deadlines.
A property (building, structure, object, or site) must be at least 50 years of age and retain as much of its original architectural design and materials as to properly reflect its period of significance. In addition, a property must be significant for one or more of the following criteria:
- association with a significant event or pattern of events in local, state, or national history;
- association with the lives of persons significant in our past whose contributions to local, state, or national history can be identified and documented;
- significant architectural design or method of construction;
- archaeological potential to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Hudson-Jones Barn
Artificial siding, when applied to a historic building, can affect its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. See the AHPP's Statement of Staff and State Review Board Position on the Eligibility of Artificially Sided Buildings for Listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Learn about the evolution of artificial siding and its use in Arkansas. View the Architectural Style Guide.
The Nomination Process
Below you will find an explanation of the National Register listing process as administrated by the AHPP.
I. Determination of Eligibility
Marked Tree Lock and Siphons, Marked Tree, Poinsett County
The eligibility form outlines the information required by the AHPP staff
to make a determination of eligibility (DOE). A DOE is the first step in considering a property
for listing in the National Register. A thorough and accurate response to this outline will
enable the AHPP staff to evaluate the potential eligibility of the property. Once the review
is completed (usually within 30 days of receipt), a letter outlining the staff's determination
will be mailed to you.
Building form: Download the PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or the text file.
Cemetery form: Download the PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or the text file.
Historic District Form: Download the PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or the text file.
II. Site Visit
Saint Joseph's Home
If your property is determined eligible, AHPP staff members will contact you to arrange a site
visit to the property at a mutually convenient time. The site visit entails the AHPP staff
completing both black-and-white and color slide photography of the building and includes a
documentation of the building's architectural features.
After your property has been determined eligible and the site visit has been completed,
you will be responsible for completing the National Register nomination form. To assist in
this process, the AHPP staff provides two training sessions each year to answer questions
and provide instructions on filling out the form. These sessions are held on the fourth
Wednesday of April and the Second Wednesday of October at the Tower Building at 323 Center
Street in Little Rock. Directions to the tower building and a map will be provided to all
who sign up for theses sessions, which are free and open to the public. For those who are
unable to attend a training sessions, the AHPP will provide a reading list of the materials
explaining how to fill out the National Register form. Constituents also have the option
of hiring a contractor to complete their nomination form. A list of qualified contractor
is available from the AHPP on request. After the completed nomination form is submitted
to the AHPP, it will be edited and returned to you for corrections, if needed. When the
National Register form is completed and corrected, the AHPP will notify you in writing
and schedule the property for consideration at a future meeting of the State Review Board.
All nominations must be completed and submitted six weeks before the next scheduled meeting
of the State Review Board to be included in that meeting's agenda. The
AHPP recommends that you use it if possible, since it will streamline the process
of correcting the form. The National Register nomination
form is available here on the website for your convenience.
Champ Grubbs House
Nomination form: Download the PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or the rich text file.
Nomination continuation form: Download the PDF file, Microsoft Word document, or the rich text file.
NOTE: On a very limited basis, the AHPP staff may be able, as time allows, to complete some constituent-generated National Register nominations. However, this will almost certainly result in a substantial delay in the completion of these projects.
IV. Presentation to the State Review Board
Pike County Courthouse, Murfreesboro
On acceptance of a completed nomination by the specified deadline, the staff will schedule the property for presentation to the State Review Board. The State Review Board is a governor-appointed group of eleven professionals that must approve the staff's recommendations before they can be forwarded to the National Register office in Washington, D. C. The staff will prepare a short (usually five to ten minutes in length) presentation with color slides of the property for the State Review Board meeting. The applicant will receive a notification letter one month prior to the date of this meeting informing him/her of the location and approximate time of day that the property will be presented. Attendance by the applicant is encouraged but voluntary.
V. Preparation of Final Nomination Form and Listing
After approval by the State Review Board, the AHPP staff prepares the final nomination, including any changes requested by the board, provided the nomination was submitted on a computer disk (if not on disk, the constituent will be responsible for making any needed corrections to the final form). The nomination is then forwarded to the National Register office of the National Park Service in Washington, D. C. A determination will be made by their staff within 45 days of receipt of the nomination. Once official notification of listing is received, the AHPP will notify the applicant of the decision by letter. The AHPP can provide owners of listed properties with a certificate of listing that is signed by the governor and state historic preservation officer. The AHPP does not automatically provide plaques; however, information on ordering a plaque will be mailed to the owner of the listed property along with the letter announcing the property's listing on the National Register.
If you have any questions regarding the National Register nomination process, please contact National Register staff, AHPP, 1500 Tower Building, 323 Center Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, phone: (501) 324-9880 [TDD (501) 324-9811], or send e-mail to info@arkansaspreservation.org.
These forms are available in PDF format, as a Microsoft Word document, and as a text file. For PDF, you will need the Acrobat Reader to view this file. It is available, free of charge, at Adobe's website.
Or if you don't have Microsoft Word, you may use the free Microsoft Word Viewer to open the Word document. The text file should open properly in your browser window.
