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RESEARCH YOUR HOME
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Many property owners across the country are learning about historic designation and its advantages. The information contained here will provide you with information about historic designation, the Mills Act, how to research and designate your home, and some links to helpful websites.

Whether or not you decide to pursue designation for your property, you may find it rewarding to conduct some research on the history of your property and its past owners. During the course of your research you might locate previous owners or their descendants, learn interesting facts about your home's early residents, and perhaps discover some interior or exterior historic photographs.

While it is a great experience to learn about your house's history, conducting research can be a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process. The tips included here will give you a concrete framework within which to work and help you to eliminate some of the learning curve. Here's a Step-by-Step Guide.

WHAT MAKES A HOUSE OR BUILDING HISTORIC?

Here are the National Register criteria:

  • The building is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
  • it is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
  • it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represents the work of a master, or that possesses high artistic values, or that represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
  • has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Helpful articles from SOHO's newsletter Reflections

Helpful articles from SOHO's Our Heritage magazine

Other Resources

PRESERVATION RESOURCES

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