The Soldiers Barracks at Fort Mifflin.
The American Legation in Tangier, Morocco, was the first National Historic Landmark on foreign soil.
Mohonk Mountain House, a resort hotel on Shawangunk Ridge; site of 1895–1916 conference that led to establishment of Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague
Original 1963 National Historic Landmark plaque at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
The Chicago Board of Trade Building in Chicago, Illinois is an iconic landmark of Chicago and the United States
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks.
A National Historic Landmark District may include contributing properties
that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include
non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not
also be separately listed.
Creation of the program
Prior
to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance
were made by piecemeal efforts of the United States Congress. In 1935,
Congress passed the Historic Sites Act, which authorized the Interior Secretary
authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to
designate properties as having "national historical significance", and
gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as the Historic American Buildings Survey
amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant
properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites, although the very first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial, the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis, Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938.
In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of
the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National
Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape.[4] When the National Register of Historic Places
was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was
encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and
designation were formalized. Because listings (either on the National
Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws,
legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner
agreement to the designations.
On October 9, 1960, 92 properties were announced as designated NHLs by Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton. The first of these was a political nomination: the Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa
was officially designated on June 30 of that year, but for various
reasons, the public announcement of the first several NHLs was delayed.
Criteria
NHLs are designated by the United States Secretary of the Interior because they are:
- Sites where events of national historical significance occurred;
- Places where prominent persons lived or worked;
- Icons of ideals that shaped the nation;
- Outstanding examples of design or construction;
- Places characterizing a way of life; or
- Archeological sites able to yield information.
Current NHLs
More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States.
There are NHLs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Three states (Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states (Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City) all separately have more NHLs than 40 of the 50 states. In fact, New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia, California,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York (the latter of which has the
most NHLs of all 50 states). There are 74 NHLs in the District of
Columbia.
Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states. There are 15 in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U.S. commonwealths and territories; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia; and one in Morocco.
Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs.
Other
About half of the National Historic Landmarks are privately owned. The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks.
A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark
Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National
Historic Landmarks.
If not already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an NHL is automatically added to the Register upon designation. About three percent of Register listings are NHLs.
