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Contributing property

(Redirected fromContributing buildings)

In the law regulatinghistoric districts in the United States,acontributing propertyorcontributing resourceis any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district significant. Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The firstlocal ordinancesdealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was enacted inCharleston, South Carolinain 1931.[1]

TheFreedman's Bank Building,previously known as the Treasury Annex, is a contributing property to theLafayette Square Historic DistrictandFinancial Historic District.

Properties within a historic district fall into one of two types of property: contributing and non-contributing. A contributing property, such as a 19th-century mansion, helps make a historic district historic, while a non-contributing property, such as a modern medical clinic, does not. The contributing properties are key to a historic district's historic associations, historicarchitecturalqualities, orarchaeologicalqualities. A property can change from contributing to non-contributing and vice-versa if significant alterations take place.

History

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According to theNational Park Service,the first instance of law dealing with contributing properties inlocal historic districtswas enacted in 1931 by the city ofCharleston, South Carolina;it designated the "Old and Historic District."[1]The ordinance declared that buildings in the district could not have changes made to architectural features that were visible from the street. By the mid-1930s, other U.S. cities followed Charleston's lead. An amendment to theLouisiana Constitutionled to the 1937 creation of the Vieux Carre Commission,[1]which was charged with protecting and preserving theFrench Quarterin the city ofNew Orleans.The city passed a local ordinance that set standards to regulate changes within the quarter.[1]Other sources, such as theColumbia Law Reviewin 1963, indicate differing dates for the preservation ordinances in both Charleston and New Orleans.

TheColumbia Law Reviewgave dates of 1925 for the New Orleans laws and 1924 for Charleston.[2]The same publication claimed that these two cities were the only cities with historic district zoning untilAlexandria, Virginiaadopted an ordinance in 1946.[2]The National Park Service appears to refute this.[1]

In 1939, the city ofSan Antonio, Texas,enacted an ordinance to protect the area of La Villita, the original Mexican village marketplace.[1]In 1941 the authority of local design controls on buildings within historic districts was being challenged in court.[3]InCity of New Orleans vs Pergament(198 La. 852, 5 So. 2d 129 (1941)), Louisiana stateappellate courtsruled that the design and demolition controls were valid within defined historic districts. Beginning in the mid-1950s, controls that once applied only to buildings within historic districts were extended to individual landmark structures.[3]TheUnited States Congressadopted legislation in 1950 that declared theGeorgetown neighborhoodinWashington, D.C.a historic district and protected.[1]By 1965, 51 American communities had adopted preservation ordinances. In 1976 the National Historic Preservation Act was passed by Congress. By 1998, more than 2,300 U.S. towns, cities and villages had enactedhistoric preservationordinances.[1]

Definition

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Plaque acknowledging Little Red Schoolhouse as a contributing property toNewberry Historic DistrictinNewberry, Florida

Contributing properties are defined through historic district or historic preservation zoning laws, usually at the local level.[4]Zoning ordinances pertaining to historic districts are designed to maintain a district's historic character by controlling demolition and alteration to existing properties.[5]In historic preservation law, a contributing property is any building, structure, object or site within the boundaries of the district that contributes to its historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities of ahistoric district.[6]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.[6]Definitions vary but, in general, they maintain the same characteristics.[6][7]Another key aspect of a contributing property is historic integrity. Significant alterations to a property can sever its physical connections with the past, lowering its historic integrity.[8]Contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district.[9]A property listed as a contributing member of a historic district meets National Register criteria and qualifies for allbenefitsafforded a property or site listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places.[10]

Each property within a National Register historic district — contributing or non-contributing — is classified as one offour property types:building, object, structure, or site.[11]

Contributing versus non-contributing

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This medical clinic building in theEast Grove Street DistrictinBloomington, Illinoisis an example of a non-contributing property.

The line between contributing and non-contributing can be fuzzy. In particular, American historic districts nominated to theNational Register of Historic Placesbefore 1980 have few records of the non-contributing structures.State Historic Preservation Officesconduct surveys to determine the historical character of structures in historic districts. Districts nominated to the National Register of Historic Places after 1980 usually list those structures considered non-contributing.[8]

As a general rule, a contributing property helps make a historic district historic. A well-preserved 19th-century mansion will generally contribute to a district, while a modern gas station generally will not. 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-sidinga 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, while other times the historic nature of a building has been so "severely compromised" as to be irreversible.[12]For example, in theEast Grove Street DistrictinBloomington, Illinois,contributing properties include theQueen Anne-styleGeorge H. Cox House(1886) and theArts and Crafts-style H.W. Kelley House (1906), and non-contributing properties include theItalianate-style George Brand House (1886), whose original exterior has been covered with asun roomand asbestos siding, and a 1950s physician's office built in a style radically different from the surrounding neighborhood.[12]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^abcdefgh"Early Models".Working on the Past in Local Historic Districts.National Park Service.Archived fromthe originalon June 9, 2007.RetrievedApril 23,2007.

    However,the archived copy [see above] which is at an "archive dot org" web page, will not reflect updates,ifand when the publisher -- nps dot gov -- makes changes to their web site.Therefore,in case such new changes do exist, if those new changes might be of interest, then here is a new [ "cite" ] link, to allow checking the new version of that web page. That new location (or "URL" ) was found on March 26, 2023, using a "search" feature of the "nps dot gov" web site. It is:
    "Early Models".Working on the Past in Local Historic Districts.National Park Service.Archivedfrom the original on March 26, 2023.RetrievedMarch 26,2023.
  2. ^ab"The Police Power, Eminent Domain, and the Preservation of Historic Property (in Notes)",(JSTOR),Columbia Law Review,Vol. 63, No. 4. (Apr., 1963), pp. 708-732. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  3. ^abPyke, John S. Jr. "Architectural Controls and the Individual Landmark",(JSTOR),Law and Contemporary Problems,Vol. 36, No. 3, Historic Preservation. (Summer, 1971), pp. 398-405. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  4. ^For a catalog of early historic district zoning ordinances, see "Further reading" number one, Morrison, J.Historic Preservation Law,pp. 6-9, 12-15, 126, 1965 ed.
  5. ^Hughes, L. Keith. "Use of Zoning Restrictions to Restrain Property Owners from Altering or Destroying Historic Landmarks (in Notes)",(JSTOR),Duke Law Journal,Vol. 1975, No. 4. (Sep., 1975), pp. 999-1019. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  6. ^abcHistoric and Scenic Preservation Local Option Property Tax ReimbursementArchived2007-09-30 at theWayback Machine,Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  7. ^ORDINANCE NO. 2001-02,(PDF), Danville, California ordinance, California Office of Historic Preservation. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  8. ^abNational Register Historic Districts Q&A,South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  9. ^Iowa City Historic Preservation HandbookArchived2006-12-23 at theWayback Machine,(PDF),Iowa City Urban Planning Division.Retrieved 26 March 2007.
  10. ^Historic DistrictsArchived2007-08-10 at theWayback Machine,Town of Wake Forest, North Carolina,Official site. Retrieved 9 April 2007.
  11. ^"How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation".National Park Service,1997, 10.
  12. ^abEast Grove Street DistrictArchived2009-03-25 at theWayback Machine,(PDF), National Register Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database,Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.Retrieved 26 March 2007.

Sources

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  • Morrison, Jacob H.Historic Preservation Law,New Orleans: Pelican Pub. Co., 1957. Further editions published in 1965, 1972 and 1974.ISBN9780891330196,ISBN0891330194.
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