Historic Districts in The United States - Significance

Significance

The original concept of an American historic district was as a protective area surrounding more important, individual historic sites. As the field of historic preservation progressed, those involved came to realize that the structures acting as "buffer zones" were actually key elements of the historic integrity of larger, landmark sites. Preservationists came to the view that districts should be more encompassing, blending together a mesh of structures, streets, open space and landscaping to define the historical character of a historic district.

As early as 1981 the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified 882 American cities and towns that had some form of "historic district zoning" in place; local laws meant specifically to protect historic districts. Before 1966, historic preservation in the United States was in its infancy. That year the U.S. Conference of Mayors penned an influential report which concluded, in part, that Americans suffered from a sense of "rootlessness." They recommended historic preservation to help provide Americans with a sense of orientation. The creation of the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, on the heels of the report, helped to instill that sense of orientation the mayors were looking for. The mayors also recommended that any historic preservation program not focus solely on individual properties but also on "areas and districts which contain special meaning for the community." Local, state and federal historic districts now account for thousands of historic property listings at all levels of government.