How the historic places figures are made

What the National Register is

The National Register of Historic Places is the National Park Service’s official list of places worth preserving. A listing is the Service’s record that a place was nominated and accepted; it is not an inspection of the place today. The listed-properties spreadsheet is the Service’s own file, one row for each listing, and every figure on these pages is counted from it.

What counts as one listing

A listing is a reference number. A historic district is one listing however many buildings it holds, and the file has 18,300 districts. A reference number the file prints in two states is one listing, counted once in the country and once in each state it names. A count of listings is not a count of buildings, and it is not a measure of how much history a place has: it reflects what was nominated and accepted, which depends on each state’s preservation office and on the owners who agreed. These pages say a place is “listed”, never “the most historic”.

Listing is not protection

The Register is not a protection list. Listing does not by itself restrict what an owner does with a property, and these pages make no claim about demolition, tax credits or protection.

Restricted places are counted, not located

The Service withholds the location of some places, and the file marks them. The file has 5,682 of them. They count in every total; their street and city are never shown here, and no page prints a street for any listing.

Names, and who owns a place

A property is named as the register prints it, with its own capitals and punctuation. The file holds no owner, nominator or applicant, so no page names or counts any person, and every figure here counts places.

What the file leaves out

The file lags the register: the Service publishes a weekly list that is newer. A place removed from the register is not in it, so a count by the year a place was listed is today’s listings by their year, not the size of the register in that year. A county the file names that has changed, or an independent city filed under a county’s name, is shown as the file prints it and is never guessed.

The publisher’s own words

The Service says of its records: “Our guidance and records were not designed for modern applications.” It makes no claim about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the contents of its website.

No claim to original U.S. Government works. Neither the National Park Service nor the National Register endorses this site, and the Service’s marks are not used.

What this data cannot show

• A listing is not a building count: a historic district is one listing however many buildings it holds.
• A count of listings reflects what was nominated and accepted, not how much history a place has, and the register's listing does not by itself restrict what an owner does with a property.
• Restricted places are counted and never located: their street and city are not shown. The file lags the register, and a place removed from the register is not in it.

Sources

• National Register of Historic Places listed properties spreadsheet — National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · Public domain as a U.S. Government work, with conditions: every page carries "No claim to original U.S. Government works"; no NPS mark, nomination photograph or scan is shown. · Updated: Weekly list; the spreadsheet is rebuilt about monthly