The National Park Service provides a wide array of valuable programs and resources supporting preservation. These resources provide helpful information to preservation professionals, property owners, educators and government officials. They may generally be accessed on-line for review, printing, and downloading.
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation are guidelines for appropriate historic preservation practices. The NPS Technical Preservation Services - Preservation Briefs is a series of over 20 concise manuals addressing a wide variety of preservation related construction topics such as wood window restoration, slate roofing, handicapped accessibility, etc. The Preservation Briefs can be an invaluable resource to professionals and home owners.
Primary National Park Service Resource Links
National Park Service's Links to the Past This is the entry portal to all of the NPS's historic preservation-related services.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings The Standards are the philosophical basis for preservation activities in the country.
Technical Preservation Services - Preservation Briefs The NPS has prepared a great valuable collection of documents on various building and rehabilitation topics, called the Preservations Briefs, which enable owners to make informed decisions when rehabilitating their properties
Additional National Park Service Resource Links
Technical Preservation Services - Checklist for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings This series of questions in a checklist format HAVE been designed to help anyone who is considering the rehabilitation of a historic property.
National Register of Historic Places National Register homepage at the National Park Service website
National Register Inventory The National Register maintains a searchable database of National Register-listed properties by state and county
National Register Publications The National Register publishes a variety of informative documents
National Historic Landmarks The highest honor a privately owned property can receive is National Historic Landmark status.
Certified Local Government Program This link takes you to the National Park Service which administers the federal program.
National Center for Preservation Technology and Training The center provides information and grants for heritage conservation, preservation, archaeology, research, training, and information management
Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives The National Park Service and the Internal Revenue Service provide federal income tax credits and other incentives to encourage the appropriate rehabilitation of historic properties
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record The NPS operates a program to document the historic resources and landscape of the country.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust is the largest, most prominent, private preservation advocacy organization in the country
National Main Street Center The National Trust for Historic Preservation operates the National Main Street Center to promote healthy downtowns
