IMPORTANT DATES IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION
1789Massachusetts Historical Society founded
1816Philadelphia State House (Independence Hall) saved from demolition
1827-28Restoration of Touro Synagogue. Newport, RI –known as first
restoration project in country
1828 William Strickland designed current State House (Independence Hall)
in Georgian style – known as first restoration architect in the country
1850New York State Legislature bought Hasbrouck House in Newburgh,
NY, George Washington’s headquarters during Revolutionary War,
thus became first publicly owned shrine to an American secular patron saint, George Washington
1853Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association formed to save Washington’s
home. Founded by Ann Pamela Cunningham
1855 Nassau Hall at PrincetonUniversity damaged by fire. University
Trustees voted to retain as much of the historical old structure as
possible and to “restore” it.
1872YellowstoneNational Park made a Federally protected area
1889Congress preserves Casa Grande in Arizona
1890Chickamauga Battlefield was authorized as first military park
1905Private interest saved and restored Paul Revere's Boston house.
Although associatively significant, the house attracted equal attention
Because it was the city’s oldest surviving frame building.
1906Antiquities Act, the country’s first national preservation legislation,
passed, designating monuments on Federal land and establishing
penalties for destroying federally owned sites
1910Creation of the Society for the Preservation of New England
Antiquities
1916 Establishment of the National Park Service
1926John D. Rockefeller, Jr. begins funding the restoration of
Williamsburg, Virginia
1929Henry Ford established GreenfieldVillage, Dearborn, Michigan
1931 Charleston, South Carolina establishes an “Old and Historic District”
The country’s first locally designated historic district
1933Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Civilian
Conservation Corp authorized
1935 Historic Sites Act passed by Congress to establish historic
preservation policy; it “established policy…to preserve for public
use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national significance for
the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States
preservation policy; it “established policy…to preserve for public
use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national significance for
the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States
1949National Trust for Historic Preservation establish
1966 National Historic Preservation Act passed: major provisions
established preservation roles for federal, state, and local levels of
government.
1966 Department of Transportation Act.
1966 Demonstration Cities Act
1969National Environmental Policy Act.
1971 Executive Order 11593 was issued by President Nixon
1976Tax Reform Act removed incentive for demolition of older buildings
provided for five-year rapid write-off for certified rehabilitation of historic buildings.
1978 Revenue Act established investment tax credit for rehabilitation of
historic buildings. US Supreme Court upheldNew York City’s
permit denial under local preservation law in Penn Central
Transportation Co .v .City of New York
1980 Main Street Program established by the National Trust for Historic
Preservation. Amendment of National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and inclusion of provision for Certified Local Government
status.
1981 Congress passed Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA). Providing 25
percent tax incentive for rehabilitation of historic buildings
1986 Tax Reform Act cut back some historic preservation tax incentives
1988 Federal Abandoned Shipwreck Act authorized state management of
Significant shipwrecks, and encourages maritime preservation
1998National Trust for Historic Preservation becomes independent of
federal funding.