THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s official list of properties deemed especially worthy of preservation. In Arkansas, the Arkansas Historic Preservation program (AHPP) is charged with the responsibility of nominating to the National Register those properties that meet the necessarily strict requirements. A district must have 51% of its resources be at least 50 years of age and retain as much of their original architectural design and materials as to properly reflect the period of significance. In addition, a district must be significant for one or more of the following criteria: A) association with a significant event of pattern of events in local, state, or national history; B) association with the lives of persons significant in our past whose contributions to local, state, or national history can be identified and documented; C) significant architectural design or method of construction; D) archaeological potential to yield information important in prehistory or history. Listing in the National Register is important for a number of reasons in addition to the pride and prestige that comes with this recognition. Technical advice relating to all aspects of restoration, adaptive reuse, and renovation of older structures is available from the AHPP upon request by the owner. Financial incentives, including a 20% investment tax credit, may be available for the rehabilitation of certain commercial, industrial, and residential income-producing properties that have been certified as historic structures. Also, the Tax Treatment Extension Act of 1980 includes provisions regarding donations of conservation easements, which are partial interests of historically important sites or structures. These incentives are available to buildings that contribute to a historic district as well as to individually listed properties. A brochure that describes in greater detail the requirements and effects of listing a property in the National Register is enclosed. THE NOMINATION PROCESS Below you will find an explanation of the National Register process as administered by the AHPP. I. Determination of Eligibility The enclosed materials include an outline of the information required by the AHPP staff to make a determination of eligibility (DOE). A DOE is the first step in considering a district 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 district. Once the review is completed (usually within 30 days of receipt), a letter outlining the staff’s determination will be mailed to you. The AHPP assesses a district’s significance under both National Register Criterion A and Criterion C. II. Survey Training If your district is determined eligible, AHPP staff members will contact you to arrange a survey training session at a mutually convenient time. The survey training the AHPP staff providing instruction on the completion of the photography and Arkansas Architectural Resources Form for each property within the district. III. Nomination Form After your district has been determined eligible and the survey 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 these sessions, which are free and open to the public. For those who are unable to attend a training session, 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 contractors 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 National Register form is available on a computer disk provided by the AHPP on request for convenience. The AHPP recommends that you use this disk if possible, since it will streamline the process of correcting the form. IV. Presentation to the State Review Board 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, DC. 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 the 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 correction to the final form). The nomination is then forwarded to the National Register office of the National Park Service in Washington, DC. 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 AHP 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 on request 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. AHPP HISTORIC DISTRICT LISTING REQUIREMENTS LISTING PROCEDURES Reconnaissance survey: A “once over lightly” inspection of an area, most useful for characterizing its resources in general and for developing a basis for deciding how to organize and orient more detailed survey efforts. Before beginning the listing procedure the coordinating individual or group should attempt to get a feel from owners of the resources in the area as to whether there is an interest in forming a historic district. Each owner of property in the proposed district will be notified and offered the opportunity thirty days prior to the State Review Board meeting to comment on the nomination of their property. When the AHPP is contacted about a possible historic district a member of the National Register team will visit the proposed area to conduct a reconnaissance survey with the informant. A determination of eligibility for National Register status is easier to ascertain if the district is viewed in its entirety rather than looking at bits and pieces in separate photographs. Often a collection of resources may not meet the criteria required for listing as a district but a constituent could pursue individual listings on certain properties or a multiple property listing on discontiguous properties (Resources spread out over a large area with many noncontributing resources in between, making boundaries difficult to select). A preliminary visit could eliminate unnecessary paperwork. An application does not need to be received by the AHPP before this site visit but if the application is sent a visit can be scheduled soon after receipt by the AHPP. The reconnaissance survey will determine: ¨ Whether the required 51% contributing resources are present ¨ Placement of boundaries ¨ Criteria ¨ Significance INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY Certain information is needed for the AHPP to make a determination of eligibility, which can be provided through the application. 1. PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs are important in making a determination of eligibility. Certain aspects of the district will need to be recorded to convey the presence of a visual sense of history. If the district is small (twenty or less) one photograph of the front façade of each building (contributing and noncontributing) will need to be included. On larger districts a small group of representative photographs of different architectural styles and resources will suffice. However, the finished survey will need to include photographs of each resource in the district. A photo of streetscapes displaying as much of the structures or landscape features as possible is also required. 2. HISTORIC DISTRICT NAME: The name of a historic district should reflect the entire area rather than specific resources within it. You may indicate the kind of district being nominated by using terms like “estate,” “ranch,” or “neighborhood.” A modifier may be incorporated to convey the predominant historic quality of a district. Examples of this would be “Philander Smith College Historic District,” or “Star City Commercial Historic District.” 3. ADDRESSES: A list of addresses of each resource (contributing and noncontributing) will aid the National Register team at the AHPP in making a determination of eligibility. If the district is a large one (over twenty buildings) this does not have to be included in the application packet, but when the field survey is conducted addresses and complete owner information (names, mailing addresses, and phone numbers) will need to be provided. On small historic districts the informant may provide the AHPP with a list of the addresses, streets to be included and a small sketch map of the area. 4. OWNER INFORMATION: Complete owner information is very important for notification purposes. 5. NOMINATOR AND MAILING ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER: The address and phone number of the nominator is important as well because the AHPP will work closely with that person up to the point of nomination at the State Review Board meeting. This can be the owner of a property in the district or an individual hired or secured on a volunteer basis by the owners to write the nomination. 6. OWNERS’ PERMISSION: Owner permission from each property in a district does not have to be provided at the time of the application, but again it is a good idea to spread the word and get a general feel for the acceptance of a district in the area before applying or beginning the survey work. If residents or owners are made aware of the potential district beforehand they are usually more open to the idea. If anyone is apprehensive about their property being listed the nominator can have a representative from the AHPP speak to a group of owners and provide information about what it means to be listed on the National Register and some of the benefits of being listed. If the district contains more than fifty property owners a notice of the intent to nominate will be published in a local newspaper thirty days before the State Review Board meeting. If there are fifty or fewer owners of property within the district letters will be sent by the AHPP to each property holder thirty days before the meeting. Owners of resources within the boundaries of the district are provided the opportunity during those thirty days to submit written statements of concurrence or objection to the nomination of their property to the historic district. If over half of the property owners object the boundaries will be re-drawn or the project will be abandoned. 7. CONSTRUCTION DATES: Construction dates can be summed up in a span (1890-1910). Individual dates do not need to be listed in the application. However, they will need to be included on the survey forms for each resource. If a definite date cannot be found an approximate (circa) date will do. 8. CRAFTSPEOPLE: Knowing who local craftspeople were would be helpful in compiling a complete survey and if possible this should be provided. The AHPP realizes this information is often lost or never recorded at all so if it cannot be determined who they were it is acceptable. 9. ALTERATIONS: Alterations to resources in a district do not need to be recorded in the application. This will need to be included on the Arkansas Architectural Resources Survey form on line 47, “Architectural Comments” with approximate or circa dates if known. 10. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES: If there are any unique significant features present they will need to be listed and documented by resource with photographs. Examples of such features might be stained glass windows or ornate wood or tilework. If there are several such features a few representative photos will do for the application, but a complete survey will need to include all that it is possible to obtain photos of. 11. SIMILAR BUILDINGS: Knowledge of similar buildings in the community would not be important to a historic district nomination since you are often seeking to nominate a collection of properties with similarities anyway. This would be answered by “N/A” for not applicable. 12. OUTBUILDINGS: Outbuildings can be listed and profiled in the photographs provided in the application, but unless they are outstanding examples it is not necessary as the survey will provide the AHPP with in-depth information about them. 13. HISTORY: The history of the area is an important aspect of the significance associated with a district. This will help the informant determine the criteria under which to nominate the district and will also justify the reasons for National Register listing. When the AHPP looks at a district, we apply both National Register Criterion A and Criterion C. The history of a district’s formation can also aid in drawing boundaries. 14. BIBLIOGRAPHY: A bibliography of the sources of information can aid the AHPP in future research for this or other nominations. Oral interviews with residents or historians should be included in the bibliography. 15. LEGAL PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: A legal property description might be easier to obtain for a small district under the ownership of a single person, but on larger ones the informant can consult NPS Bulletin 16, page 55 under Boundary Justification, and page58 under Guidelines For Verbal Boundary Description for guidance. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY Determination of Eligibility: an action through which the eligibility of a property for National Register listing is decided but the property is not actually listed. When the AHPP receives the above-requested information, it will be distributed among six survey and architectural historians in the office for a decision on its eligibility (Determination of Eligibility or DOE). This is where it becomes helpful to have conducted a preliminary visit so if there are any questions a professional historian can provide his or her opinion to the team on whether all criteria have been met. The AHPP will contact the informant in writing when the DOE team has reached a decision or if more information is needed to make an assessment. SAMPLE Determination of Eligibility The Westwood Subdivision Harrison, Arkansas 1. PHOTOGRAPHS: See photographs included in packet. 2. HISTORIC DISTRICT NAME: The Westwood Subdivision Historic District 3. ADDRESSES: All owner information is not yet complete. See enclosed map. The area consists of 11 bocks on what was originally the western edge of Harrison, approximately 8 blocks from the historic Harrison Square. There are 110 lots in the subdivision and around 80 homes. 4. OWNER INFORMATION: See above 5. NOMINATOR AND MAILING ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER: I.A. Sanders 1234 Main Way Harrison, Arkansas 12345 6. OWNERS’ PERMISSION: Pending 7. CONSTRUCTION DATES: 1937-1952 8. CRAFTSPEOPLE: Westwood Subdivision surveyed and platted in March 1937 by Ray E. Bassett, a surveyor and engineer. Research at this time has not revealed the specific architects/craftsman for the construction of individual homes. 9. ALTERATIONS: N/A 10. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES: The homes in the Westwood Subdivision Historic District make up an eclectic mixture of smaller bungalows, one-story ranch style structures and large two-story homes. One of the most striking features of Westwood Subdivision Historic District is the wide variety of styles. There is no overriding architectural theme, making for a very diverse look in the 11 block area. 11. SIMILAR BUILDINGS: N/A 12. OUTBUILDINGS: N/A 13. HISTORY: The Westwood Subdivision was surveyed and platted in March 1937 by Ray E. Bassett, a surveyor and engineer. The original property, consisting of around eighty acres, was owned by several prominent Harrison families including the Kirby, Gladden and Owens families. All three of these families were involved in the medical profession serving as three of Harrison’s most noted early physicians. Over the years, the Westwood Subdivision Historic District has been home to some f Harrison’s most important residents. Most notably would have to be the John Paul Hammerschmidt family. The Hammerschmidt’s were in the lumber business and actually built several of the homes in the subdivision. Mr. Hammerschmidt later sold his lumber business and served 13 terms in the U.S. Congress, representing the 3rd Congressional District of Arkansas. Today, he lives just one block outside Westwood Subdivision Historic District. Other notable home owners include the longtime publisher of the Harrison Daily Times, J.E. Dunlap. The current publisher of the paper and his wife, Jeff and Jane Christenson, live in the Westwood Subdivision Historic District today. The local public defender, a division chair at the community college, Harrison’s most noted interior decorator, and an industrial recruiter, are just a few of the other community-minded individuals making up Westwood Subdivision Historic District. And there are many, many other blue collar workers who live in the area too. The residents of Westwood Subdivision Historic District are very excited about the possibility of historic district designation and are anxious to move forward with the project. 14, BIBLIOGRAPHY: May 29, 1937 Map of WestWood Subdivision; Information from local Main Street Harrison office. 15. LEGAL PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: SW ¼ of NW ¼ of Section 9, and a part of nW1/4 of SW ¼ of Section 9, Township 18 North and Range 20 West. North boundary bounded by Stephenson Avenue; West boundary roughly bounded by Longitude S 1’04 W; South boundary roughly bounded by Shaddox Lane and South Avenue; and East boundary bounded by Oak Street.