[MassHistPres] State Register of Historic Places

Fri Feb 3 14:26:16 EST 2012

Nice, succinct summary, Michael.

In terms of easy access for all to the list of properties on the register--not to mention saving a few trees and the cost to print and ship all that paper around--when is this going to be put online?   

Here are a few links to the way Colorado, Kansas, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Michigan make their information available online:

http://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/bent-county

http://www.kshs.org/natreg/natreg_listings/search/prop:district/city:/county:/arch:/category:/submit:SEARCH

http://www.preservation.ri.gov/survey/publications.php

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ahi/advancedsearch.asp

http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/

It certainly seems odd that no one has bothered to do this here in Massachusetts, especially since it's already available as a document and can be turned into a PDF and loaded up to a free document sharing site.  Total time: Less than 15 minutes.  Total cost: $0 -- there is no cost to hosting documents at Scirbd (and others), and there's no need to involve anyone in IT.  (You'll see that some other MHC and related documents online at Scribd have hundreds or thousands of views.)  In addition, Scribd (and others) make it easy to drop in a viewing window to the MHC's websit if you wish to make it more convenient.  Again, free.  Simple.  No IT staff involved.  

Uploading it as a PDF is a simple, crude, free approach, and not up to the examples set by the other states listed above and others, but it would be a start that wouldn't cost money and take 15 minutes or so.  If there ever was a desire to make the information available in a really useful format, there are a lot of interesting things that could be done by others (and at no expense to taxpayers) to make the information more meaningful.

Best--

Lee

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
Lee Wright  |  Marlborough  |  469-233-7712

On Feb 3, 2012, at 1:42 PM, Steinitz, Michael (SEC) wrote:

> HI Ralph,
>  
> 1) The State Register of Historic Places is a master list of properties designated under several specific local, state, and federal statutes.  These include only the following:
>  
> (NHL) National Historic Landmarks (36 CFR 65) -  properties of outstanding national significance designated directly by the Department of the Interior.
>  
> (NR)  National Register of Historic Places (36 CFR 60) -  properties of local, state, or national significance designated by the Department of the Interior through the State Historic Preservation Office.  These include: National Register Districts, National Register Individual properties,  National Register Multiple Resource Areas, National Register Thematic Resource Areas, National Register Multiple Property Submissions, and  National Register Determinations of Eligibility (NDOE) (36 CFR 60.3 (c) & 60.6(s), the latter including ONLY properties that have been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places by the Keeper of the National Register, Department of Interior.   
>  
> (MAL):  Massachusetts Archaeological Landmarks and (MHL)  Massachusetts Historic Landmarks - includes sites (MAL) and structures (MHL) of state significance designated by the Massachusetts Historical Commission; all are subject to the Standards for the Care and Management of Certified Historic Landmarks which are recorded with the property’s deed. (M.G.L., Ch. 9 s. 27)
>  
> (LL)  Local Landmarks (various local ordinances) - includes properties of local, state and/or national significance designated by local governments.
>  
> (LHD):  Local Historic District (M.G.L., Ch. 40C and special legislative acts) - includes properties of local, state, and/or national significance designated by local governments. 
>  
> (RHD)  Regional Historic District (special legislative acts) - includes properties of local, state, and/or national significance designated by special act of the legislature.  At this time, the only designated regional historic district is Old King’s Highway Historic District, Barnstable County  (M.G.L., Ch. 470 of the Acts of 1973).
>  
> (PR)  Preservation Restriction (M.G.L., Ch. 184, ss. 31‑33)  - includes properties of local, state, and/or national significance with deed restrictions conveyed and recorded meeting the requirements of  MGL Ch 184, ss 31-33.
>  
> 2)       The State Register of Historic Places is published in hardcopy annually.  Copies are sent to all local historical commissions and historic district commissions (the current “2011” edition including all listings to December 31, 2011 is printed and about to be mailed). Copies may also be purchased at the State House Bookstore, Boston.  It is not published in electronic format.  MHC maintains master copies at its office and updates them as new listings are added over the course of the year.
>  
> 3)       Online MACRIS may be used to search for State Register of Historic Places properties.  All of the “Designation” search options in MACRIS are State Register designations, so you can search by a particular designation, or any set of designations in combination with any of the other search options in MACRIS.  All the caveats regarding the use of the online MACRIS database apply.
>  
> 4)       There is no mechanism for “nominating” properties to the State Register of Historic Places.  The State Register is a compendium.  Properties are automatically included in the State Register of Historic Places when they obtain one of the legal designations noted above.  
>  
> 5)       Keep in mind that completing an MHC inventory form and filing it with MHC does NOT place a property in the State Register of Historic Places.  Also, an MHC staff  “National Register eligibility opinion” does NOT place a property in the State Register of Historic Places.
>  
>  
> Michael Steinitz
> Director
> Preservation Planning Division
> Massachusetts Historical Commission
> 220 Morrissey Blvd
> Boston MA 02125
> 617-727-8470
> 617-727-5128 (fax)
> michael.steinitz at state.ma.us
>  
> From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of slater at alum.rpi.edu
> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 11:04 AM
> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> Subject: [MassHistPres] State Register of Historic Places
>  
> With all this talk about the State Register of Historic Places, I'd like to know more about it.
> 
> I know that the online MACRIS is a list of *inventoried* historical places; is there an list of the State Register of Historic Places online? Is there any documentation as to how to nominate historic sites for this register?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ralph Slate
> Springfield Historical Commission
> 
> ******************************
> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE LIST.
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
> ********************************

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20120203/3e60c8f6/attachment-0001.htm>