Maine Historic Preservation Commission (2001)
The Commission is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and protection of Maine’s significant cultural resources as directed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It is located at 55 Capitol Street in Augusta.
It consists of eleven members as follows: The Commissioner of Transportation or representative, the Commissioner of Conservation or representative and 9 residents of Maine who are known for their competence, experience and interest in historic preservation, including at least one prehistoric archaeologist, one historic archaeologist, one historian, one architectural historian and one architect. Members are appointed by the Governor.
National Register of Historic Places
The Commission reviews, and approve nominations of, historic properties to the National Register of Historic Places. It also makes grant awards for historic preservation projects. Some properties are within historic districts, containing “contributing” and “non-contributing” properties.
The Encyclopedia contains many articles with text and selected photos based on the Commission’s nomination documents regarding historic properties submitted to the National Register of Historic Places. The Commission’s staff includes professionals steeped in Maine history and architectural history, providing detailed descriptions of the properties, tracing their ownership, and explaining their significance. The text in the Encyclopedia is a condensed version, edited for space, to simplify language and omits certain technical language not usually of interest to the general reader. The Encyclopedia is responsible for any errors in the resulting text.
For full documentation of Historic Register properties in Maine was available at
www.nps.gov/nr/research/data_downloads/nhl_links.xlsx for an Excel spreadsheet covering all of the U.S. This document is no longer available since late 2016.
Since early 2017 the best source has been https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP
Select the “Search” link and complete as much of the form as you have information. In most cases the Reference Number is all you need. The “Reference Number” appears in most of the citations in the Encyclopedia. Is consists of an eight digit number, such as 11000581. The first two digits signify the year of the nomination: 83=1983, 00=2000; 03=2003, 14=2014, etc. Some early citations are in the form “Cary Library: 87000929.PDF.” The “Reference Number” is now 87000929.
Citations for all National Register properties, including the “Reference Number,” in the Encyclopedia may be found in the Additional resources section in articles with those properties.
National Historic Landmarks
National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are historic properties that illustrate the heritage of the United States. Over 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction. They come in many forms: historic buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts. Each represents an outstanding aspect of American history and culture with at least one of these features:
the location with the strongest association with a turning point or significant event in American history;
the best location to tell the story of an individual who played a significant role in the history of the United States;
an exceptional representation of a particular building or engineering method, technique, or building type in the country;
provides the potential to yield new and innovative information about the past through archeology.
All Landmarks are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Maine Historic Preservation Commission
(Accessed December 24, 2020)