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Documentation

Architectural documentation of historic structures began at the national level in the United States in the mid-1930s, with the creation of the Historic American Building Survey (HABS). This cooperative program of the National Park Service, the American Institute of Architects, and the Library of Congress defined its scope broadly, to include even "structures which would not engage the especial interest of an architectural connoisseur." Later expanded to include engineering sites, and most recently, historic landscapes, the heritage documentation programs administered by the National Park Service serve an important role in furthering both architectural research and historic preservation. A growing collection of surveys for over 35,000 historic sites--consisting of photographs, measured drawings, and written historical reports--is housed at the Library of Congress, where it is also available online. See:

Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, American Memory, Library of Congress

Heritage Documentation Programs, National Park Service, including:

Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)
Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS)

Standards and Guildelines

HABS Production Notes (archived site), including:

Measured Drawings
Large Format Photographs
Written Histories

Preservation

Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, the National Register of Historic Places is the United States' official list of over 80,000 cultural resources--districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects--designated as especially worthy of preservation. While the National Register is administered by the National Park Service, under NHPA each state appoints its own State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) which serves to coordinate preservation efforts at the local, state, and national levels. State Historic Preservation Offices are often the best starting point for pursuing preservation information or procedures for a given site. See:

National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, As Amended, National Park Service

SHPO links

State Historic Preservation Offices, or
State Information and SHPO list

Additional Preservation Resources at the National Level

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
National Association of Tribal Heritage Preservation Officers
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
National Park Service: Preservation
National Scenic Byways Program

Related Professional and Membership Organizations

American Association for State and Local History
American Cultural Resources Association
American Folklore Society
American Institute of Architects
Association for Preservation Technology International
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and US/ICOMOS
National Center for Preservation Technology & Training
National Preservation Institute
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Organization of American Historians
Preservation Action
Recent Past Preservation Network
Society for Commericial Archaeology
Society for American Archaeology
Society for Historical Archaeology
Society for Industrial Archaeology
Society of Architectural Historians

See a longer list of architectural organizations compiled by the Architecture Studies Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Museums, Libraries and Research Centers

Many of these institutions not only preserve and display historic architecture and material culture, but conduct extensive research programs as well as make their specialized library resources available to researchers.

Architectural Archives, Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library
Colonial Williamsburg
--see especially Research Division and Architectural Research
Historic New England (formerly SPNEA)
National Building Museum
Old Sturbridge Village
Strawbery Banke
Winterthur Museum

Information Resources

Digital Collections

American Memory historical collections, Library of Congress
Carnegie Mellon Architecture Archives
Cities/Buildings Database, University ofWashington
Places in Time: Historical Documentation of Place in Greater Philadelphia
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Library of Congress

Finding Aids, Guides, Directories

Historic Preservation: A Guide to Resources, Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley
PreservationDirectory.com
PreserveNet
Vernacular Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley

Free Publications Available on the Web

CRM: Cultural Resource Management (1978-2002)
CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship (2003-present)
Common Ground: Preserving our National Heritage
TPS Preservation Briefs, Technical Preservation Services, National Park Service

Subscription Databases

In most cases, these resources will be available at larger research libraries, as well as through campus-based or regional library networks. Many databases beyond the few listed here will be useful to researchers in vernacular architecture study.

America: History and Life is available through EBSCO Host
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals is available through OCLC's FirstSearch
Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture through 13:2 is available via JSTOR
recent issues of Buildings & Landscapes are available through Project MUSE

 

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