Local Historic Districts of New Hampshire with Their Historic District Commissions and Heritage Commissions
PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY Local Historic Districts of New Hampshire With Their Historic District Commissions and Heritage Commissions Julia Ferrari, Nancy Garrison, Audra Klumb, and James Perkins Advised by: Elizabeth Muzzey 9/19/2012 The students in the Preservation Planning and Management course at Plymouth State University researched the locally designated historic districts, Historic District Commissions and Heritage Commissions of New Hampshire. The students used online research and direct communication with the towns of New Hampshire to find fifty‐six towns in New Hampshire have locally designated historic districts. The districts are of varying ages, sizes, and hold differing levels of protection. The districts are managed and governed by Historic District Commissions, Heritage Commissions, and other groups. Forward In New Hampshire, local historic districts range in size and character from large commercial and residential downtowns to riverfront brick industrial complexes and small clusters of public buildings in pristine 19th century village centers. The first districts, established in the 1960s, predate the current state legislation that enables their use as a preservation tool in New Hampshire. In 1983, state law declared that safeguarding a community’s heritage was a public purpose and that local historic districting offered a number of benefits, such as conserving property values, strengthening the local economy, fostering civic beauty and promoting the education and pleasure of residents (NH RSA 674:45). Local historic districts differ from other types of historical designations, such as listing on the National Register of Historic Places or the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. Although historical resources may be listed as districts on both of the registers, the listing is honorific, by either the National Park Service or the State of New Hampshire, and carries no regulatory oversight.
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