National Historic Landmark

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  National Historic Landmarks are among the rarest designations the United States government can bestow on a place. Of more than 90,000 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, only about 2,500 have earned that higher distinction. That is roughly three percent of the total. What does it take to make that cut? And how did a cedar post driven into the earth by a 19th-century expedition become the seed of a program that now spans all 50 states, multiple territories, and even reaches a site in Morocco?

• 2. A Post in the Ground

  ›

  The story of the National Historic Landmark program begins not with a grand building or a battlefield, but with a piece of wood. Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition planted a cedar post in 1804 during their outbound journey toward the Pacific Ocean. It marked the spot where Sergeant Charles Floyd died of natural causes, making him the only member of the expedition to die during the entire trek. The post was later replaced by a 100-foot marble obelisk. That monument in Sioux City, Iowa, the Sergeant Floyd Monument, was officially designated on the 30th of June, 1960, anchoring the program's origins to a single act of remembrance on an American river.

• 3. Congress Shapes a Framework

  ›

  Before 1935, efforts to protect places of national cultural importance were scattered and inconsistent, driven by individual acts of Congress rather than any unified policy. The Historic Sites Act of 1935 changed that. It gave the secretary of the interior formal authority to identify and record historic properties, and to designate sites as having national historical significance. The National Park Service gained the authority to manage federally owned sites that met that standard. In the years that followed, surveys such as the Historic American Buildings Survey gathered detailed information on architecturally and culturally significant properties across the country, building the foundation of what became known as the Historic Sites Survey. The first designation under that 1935 legislation was not a historic site at all. Made on the 20th of December, 1935, it went to a national memorial: what is now called Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri, then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The first actual National Historic Site designation came later, for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on the 17th of March, 1938.

• 4. The Program Takes Shape

  ›

  By 1960, the National Park Service had begun formally administering the survey data accumulated under the 1935 legislation, and the Landmark program started to develop clearer procedures. On the 9th of October, 1960, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced 92 places as eligible for NHL designation. Agreements from property owners and responsible parties were sought afterward, but all 92 have since been treated as listed on that 1960 date. Six years later, the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, and the NHL program was folded within it, giving the designation formal rules and consistent procedures. A significant change came in 1980, when amendments to the listing procedures required owner consent before a designation could be made. That shift acknowledged a practical reality: being listed often triggered local preservation laws, so property owners had a direct stake in whether a place was designated.

• 5. What Qualifies

  ›

  Six criteria determine whether a property can earn the NHL designation. Sites where nationally significant historical events occurred qualify, as do places where prominent individuals lived or worked. Properties that embody ideals which shaped the nation are eligible, along with outstanding examples of design or construction. Places that characterized a distinct way of life can qualify, and so can archaeological sites capable of yielding significant new information. The designation is made by the United States secretary of the interior. A National Historic Landmark District may contain many contributing properties, which are buildings, structures, sites, or objects, as well as non-contributing properties. Contributing properties within a district may or may not also be separately listed as individual NHLs or on the broader National Register.

• 6. Where They Stand Today

  ›

  More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated, and they are spread across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Three states account for nearly a quarter of the national total: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York. Within those states, the cities of Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City each individually hold more NHLs than 40 of the 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states, and New York State holds the largest number of any state. Washington, D.C. has 74 NHLs. The program also extends beyond the contiguous states. Fifteen NHLs are located in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U.S. commonwealths and territories. Five are in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia. One is in Morocco. Over 100 ships or shipwrecks carry the designation. Washington, D.C. is home to three sites that are designated as NHLs but specifically exempted from the National Register: the White House, the United States Capitol, and the United States Supreme Court Building. About half of all NHLs are privately owned, and a friends' group called the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association works alongside the National Park Service to preserve, protect, and promote them.