Program Updates

Image of stone building with lawn, and text.
Cover of NR/NHL 2024 Year in Review

National Park Service

January 16, 2025

National Register of Historic Places and NHL Program Year in Review 2024 Released

A review of the accomplishments and continuing work of the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmarks Program is now available here. Highlights from the past year include the release of the updated TCP Bulletin and the Consolidated and Updated Photograph Policy; the evaluation of over 2,100 National Register actions; the launch of theme studies and initiatives addressing women's, Black, and Native American histories; and the designation of 19 new NHLs.

Image of stone building on a hill and a car in a driveway.
Upper Rockville Mill, Rhode Island

Photo by Kathryn J. Cavanaugh, courtesy Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission

New Best Practices Review Available

The latest issue of the “Best Practices Review” addresses community planning and development as an area of significance and may be downloaded here.

Best Practices Reviews compliment the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics and are issued quarterly. Please contact us with your suggestions for future topics.

Cover of Identifying, Evaluating, and Documenting Traditional Cultural Places National Register Bulletin showing cliff with a cave rising above a waterline
Identifying, Evaluating, and Documenting Traditional Cultural Places National Register Bulletin

National Park Service, Dreamstime

December 6, 2024

Updated TCP Bulletin Released

The National Park Service is pleased to announce the release of National Register Bulletin: Identifying, Evaluating, and Documenting Traditional Cultural Places. The TCP Bulletin provides guidance for preparing a nomination of a traditional cultural place (TCP) for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. TCPs are often associated with Indigenous peoples but may be nominated for significance to any traditional cultural group. Last issued in 1998, the TCP Bulletin has been updated to respond to the many requests made over the past decades for additional guidance and examples to promote greater participation in the preservation of these places.

Identifying, Evaluating, and Documenting Traditional Cultural Places National Register Bulletin (96mb)
Low resolution version of bulletin(15mb)
Summary of Revisions
Traditional Cultural Places Sample Nominations Page

September 27, 2024

Best Practices Review

The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The ninth issue is "Assessing Integrity, Not Condition"
Image is focused on a small, wood cabin with two wooden cabins in the behind it.
Hard Labor Creek State Park, Morgan and Walton, Georgia

Photograph by Jim Lockhart, courtesy of Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

September 12, 2024

CCC Properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places

At the height of the Depression, approximately 24.9% (12,830,000) of Americans were unemployed.To address this situation. One of the earliest work relief New Deal programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The main purpose of the CCC was to alleviate unemployment by providing national conservation work mainly for young unmarried men. Projects ranged from planting trees to building parks, flood barriers, and handling forest fires. At its peak, the CCC had 500,000 men employed at once and provided work for a total of more than 3 million men throughout its nine-year run (1933 – 1942). There are currently over 500 CCC related sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more . . .

July 9, 2024

Best Practices Review

The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The eighth issue is "Special Edition: Updating National Historic Landmarks"

March 29, 2024

Best Practices Review

The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The seventh issue is "Developing a Complete and Concise Property Description"

January 10, 2024

Best Practices Review

The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The sixth issue is "Nominating Properties for Cultural Significance under Criterion A"
Image of Craftsman style house, with trees and moon in the background.
NRHP and NHL Program FY23 Year in Review

October 29, 2023

Program FY23 Accomplishments

Highlights include

  • the relaunch of the effort to update the TCP Bulletin
  • the issuance of additional editions of the Best Practices Review
  • the reissuance of the NHL Bulletin

September 28, 2023

Best Practices Review

The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The fifth issue is "Preparing a Concise Significance Statement"
Poster of Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio, showing quad and main bulidings
The campus of Wilberforce University, c. 1850

Lithograph courtesy of the Library of Congress

September 25, 2023

HBCU Grant Recipients in the National Register of Historic Places

For nearly 190 years, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have served as vital educational, social, and cultural spaces for Black Americans. Because of their historical significance, many of these campus buildings have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The properties featured below reflect the rich, varied history of these insitutions, and have each received rehabilitation grants through the National Park Service's HBCU Grants program.
Read more . . .
Multi-story wood cabin along the water, surrounded by forest

September 3, 2023

Historic Summer Camps in the National Register of Historic Places

For many Americans across the country, a trip to summer camp is a beloved rite of passage. While many of the activities, philosophies, and uniforms of summer camps have changed over roughly 150 years in existence, the summer camp has continually represented a reprieve, real or imagined, from the drudgery and squalor of urban life. The 10 properties presented are a selection of summer camps listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more . . .

July 28, 2023

Best Practices Review
The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The fourth issue is "Evaluating Common Resources"

April 21, 2023

Best Practices Review
The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The third issue is "Amending National Register Documentation"

April 13, 2023

New Theme Study

The National Historic Landmarks Program is pleased to announce the release of a new theme study, African American Outdoor Recreation, which examines how race impacted the experience of and access to outdoor recreation and leisure resources for African American people in the United States from the end of the Civil War through the early 21st century. Led by the legacy Midwest Regional Office Historic Preservation Partnerships Program and prepared through a partnership with Organization of American Historians (OAH), the study also includes typologies of related property types such as resorts, amusement parks, campgrounds, or beaches, and registration guidelines to identify and evaluate surviving examples for further study as potential NHLs. By examining this history through the lens of race and from the perspective of Black people, African American Outdoor Recreation brings together the histories of recreation and civil rights in the United States and sheds further light on central themes in the Black experience in the United States.

National Park Service publishes two historical studies surfacing tragedy and resilience in Black recreation - Office of Communications (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

January 6, 2023

Best Practices Review
The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly. The second issue is "Evaluating Garages and Outbuildings in Historic Districts"

November 18, 2022

Sample Nominations Expanded
Learning-by-example is highly effective and the National Register has shared examples of successful nomination, on a variety of topics, for many years now. This expanded offering of examples is organized by topic.
More information

October 28, 2022

TCP Bulletin Revision Draft
The National Register of Historic Places is seeking comments on its revised "National Register Bulletin 38: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties" (TCP Bulletin). This publication provides guidance for identifying, evaluating, and documenting traditional cultural places (TCPs) that are significant in American history, architecture, engineering, archeology, and culture, at local, state, and national levels of significance.
More information

September 23, 2022

Best Practices Review
The “Best Practices Review” compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics. New Best Practices Reviews will be issued quarterly, with the first issued September 2022. The first issue is "Evaluating Non-Historic Exteriors"

September 16, 2022

Cultural Resources Submission Portal launched

The National Register Program launched an enhanced electronic submissions system, called the Cultural Resources Submission Portal (CRSP or “crisp”). Check the National Register website at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/crsp.htm for details.

National Register of Historic Places in the News

News items about National Register of Historic Places properties from around the National Park Service
Showing results 1-10 of 22

  • Leaning Towers Straightened in Saline Valley

    • Locations: Death Valley National Park
    • Offices: Historic Preservation Training Center
    • Date Released: 2024-12-30
    A 20-foot-tall wooden tower leans to the right. On the left, a person stands with ropes attached to the tower. The ground is flat with blue sky and distant brown mountains.

    Preservation specialists from the National Park Service are working to protect three historic wooden towers in Saline Valley. Additional work is planned for Tower #1, which was toppled in April 2024.

  • Secretary Haaland Announces National Park Service to Collaborate with Tribes on Theme Study of Native American History

    • Offices: Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate, Office of Native American Affairs, Office of Communications
    • Date Released: 2023-12-06
    Representatives from the Southern Ute, Ute Tribe of Uinta and Ouray, Ute Mountain Ute, Jicarilla Apache, and Navajo tribes stand Interior Department staff after a tribal consultation. In the background are the dunes and Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

    Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today announced that the National Park Service will collaborate with Tribes across the nation on a new theme study that will focus on the Indian Reorganization Period to help broaden the understanding of an important chapter in American history. A theme study provides a national historic context for specific topics in American history or prehistory, as well as evaluation guidance and a list of properties for study as possible future National Historic Landmarks. This theme study builds on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, and other efforts by the Department of the Interior to ensure that Native American history is recognized as American history.

  • Death Valley National Park

    Inflation Reduction Act to invest $1,600,000 in Death Valley National Park

    • Locations: Death Valley National Park
    • Date Released: 2023-08-16
    Seven large round metal tanks sit below a multi-story wood and metal structure built on a desert hillside.

    The NPS will use $1,600,000 from the Inflation Reduction Act to help preserve historic mining structures at Skidoo and Gem Mill in Death Valley National Park.

  • Office of Communications

    National Park Service awards $1.2 million to help preserve underrepresented community history  

    • Offices: Office of Communications
    • Date Released: 2022-12-19
    The Jefferson Jacobs Rosenwald School, a white, two-story schoolhouse, on a grassy lot with trees in the foreground located in the Taylor-Jacob Subdivision in Louisville, Kentucky.

    The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $1.2 million in Underrepresented Community Grants for 21 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia. These funds will support the identification, planning, and development of nominations or amendments to the National Register of Historic Places for diverse communities.

  • Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve

    Craters of the Moon National Historic District Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

    • Locations: Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve
    • Date Released: 2022-10-05
    a colorized photo of a brick building with a large green lawn in front

    The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Mission 66 Historic District was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its preservation of iconic Mission 66 architecture.

  • Acadia National Park

    Acadia National Park’s trail system added to the National Register of Historic Places

    • Locations: Acadia National Park
    • Date Released: 2022-04-14

    Acadia National Park’s historic, island-wide trail system is now part of the National Register of Historic Places. The park’s trail system was recognized for its national historic significance and ties to the history of Mount Desert Island and the establishment of Acadia National Park.

  • Antietam National Battlefield

    National Park Service to begin $6.8 million visitor center rehabilitation at Antietam National Battlefield

    • Locations: Antietam National Battlefield
    • Date Released: 2021-04-05
    Antieam Visitor Center

    This spring, the National Park Service (NPS) will begin a $6.8 million project to rehabilitate and preserve the visitor center at Antietam National Battlefield. Through this rehabilitation, the NPS will bring the almost 60-year-old facility into the 21st century to preserve the building and provide improved visitor services.

  • Isle Royale National Park

    Minong Mine Designated as National Historic Landmark

    • Locations: Isle Royale National Park
    • Date Released: 2021-02-04
    The general appearance of the precontact mining cluster landscape today. Each person is positioned at the center of a precontact mining pit.

    Minong Mine Copper Mining District, part of Isle Royale National Park, has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL). The designation celebrates the national significance of Indigenous and historic copper mining that occurred at the Minong Mine. Minong is the Ojibwe term for Isle Royale. 

  • Acadia National Park

    National Park Service Accepts Ownership of Bass Harbor Head Light Station

    • Locations: Acadia National Park
    • Date Released: 2020-07-15
    Lighthouse on rocky coastline

    The National Park Service (NPS) is excited to announce that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) transferred the Bass Harbor Head Light Station from the U.S. Coast Guard to Acadia National Park on July 8, 2020. Constructed in 1858, the light station was transferred at no expense to the NPS under the authority of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA). The Bass Harbor Head Light Station is now one of three light stations in Acadia National Park joining the Baker Island and Bear Island lights.

  • Saint Croix Island International Historic Site

    National Park Service Seeks Proposals to Lease the Historic McGlashan-Nickerson House

    • Locations: Saint Croix Island International Historic Site
    • Date Released: 2019-10-10
    Historic two-story house with peeling yellow paint

    The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking proposals from interested parties to lease the historic McGlashan-Nickerson House within Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. Applicants can submit proposals to the National Park Service Regional Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until Tuesday, December 10, 2019.

Tags: nrhp nr national register of historic places national register national register of historic places news release national register news release
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Last updated: January 30, 2025

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