Contributing Property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property is any property, structure or object that adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Different entities, usually governmental, at both the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of a contributing property but they all retain the same basic characteristics. In general a contributing property is key to a historic district's historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities. Historic districts are generally comprised of two types of properties, contributing and non-contributing. Properties can change from contributing to non contributing and vice versa if significant alterations take place.
Definition
A contributing property is any building, structure, object or site within the boundaries of the district which contributes to its historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities of a historic district.[1] It can be any property, structure or object that adds to the historic integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, either local or federal, significant.[1] Definitions vary but, in general, they maintain the same characteristics.[1][2] Another key aspect of a contributing property is historic integrity. Significant alterations to a property can damage its physical connections with the past, lowering its historic integrity.[3] Contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district.[4] A property listed as a contributing member of a historic district meets National Register criteria and qualifies for all benefits afforded a property or site listed individually on the National Register.[5]
Contributing versus non-contributing
Historic districts are comprised of two types of properties, contributing and non contributing and the line between them can be fuzzy.[3] In particular, American historic districts nominated to the National Register of Historic Places before 1980 have few records of the non-contributing structures.[3] State Historic Preservation Offices conduct surveys to determine the historical character of structures in historic districts. Districts nominated to the National Register of Historic Places after 1980 were generally nominated with a list of those structures considered non-contributing.[3]
As a general rule, contributing properties help make an historic district historic. A 19th century Queen Anne mansion, such as the David Syme House, is a contributing property while a modern gas station or medical clinic within the boundaries of historic district is a non-contributing property.[6][7]
Historic buildings identified as contributing properties can become non-contributing properties within historic districts if major alterations have taken place. Sometimes, an act as simple as re-siding a historic home can damage its historic integrity and render it non-contributing. In some cases, damage to the historic integrity of a structure is reversible, other times the historic nature of a building has been so "severely compromised" as to be irreversible.[6]
Notes
See also
- Historic preservation
- National Register of Historic Places
- Property types (National Register of Historic Places)
- ↑ a b c Historic and Scenic Preservation Local Option Property Tax Reimbursement, Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
- ↑ ORDINANCE NO. 2001-02, (PDF), Danville, California ordinance, California Office of Historic Preservation. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
- ↑ a b c d National Register Historic Districts Q&A, South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
- ↑ Iowa City Historic Preservation Handbook, (PDF), Iowa City Urban Planning Division. Retrieved 26 March, 2007.
- ↑ Historic Districts, Town of Wake Forest, North Carolina, Official site. Retrieved 9 April 2007.
- ↑ a b East Grove Street District, (PDF), National Register Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 26 March, 2007.
- ↑ "Sycamore Historic District," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 23 April, 2007.