National Register of Historic Places
What is the National Register of Historic Places?
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. We like to refer to it as an “honor roll” of historic buildings and places. Almost all houses in Wedgwood are 50 years or older, which makes them eligible for historic status.
THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON OWNERS OF A PROPERTY LISTED IN THE NRHP! Further, the nomination must be voted on by property owners. Under Federal Law, the listing of a property in the National Register places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner may do with their property up to and including destruction, unless the property is involved in a project that receives federal assistance, usually funding or licensing/permitting.
Please see the video of our lecture on this topic here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=952931112278941&ref=sharing
Benefits of Inclusion in NRHP as Historic District
Higher property values, stability for the neighborhood, community pride, availability of federal funds for certain improvements, and protection against federal projects. An individual property in a district must be deemed Contributing to the district in order to receive such incentives and protections. A Non-Contributing property is one that has been significantly altered or is not associated with the historic theme or time period of the district
Proposed Initial District Boundaries
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/Boundaries-Completed.pdf
See maps below.
A National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) district is a geographically definable area with a significant concentration of historic buildings, sites, or structures linked by past events and/or architectural style. Administered by the National Park Service (NPS), it categorizes properties as either Contributing (adds to the historic character of the district) or Non-Contributing (does not add to the historic character of the district).
As one of the steps toward being nominated to the NRHP (NR), WHA had to determine boundaries for the proposed initial historic district. Normally these boundaries would be determined only after everything in the potential district had been surveyed, and those survey results would influence the boundaries. But since Wedgwood is so huge and WHA had already surveyed a representative portion of it, we were allowed by Texas Historical Commission (THC) to proceed with determining the boundaries before completing the survey work. (THC has to approve everything associated with our NR nomination before it is submitted at the federal level.)
WHA worked with THC at every step of the way on determining the proposed initial boundaries. We say “proposed” because these boundaries could change slightly during the nomination and survey process and the nomination has not yet been accepted by NPS. We say “initial” because an NR district can be amended (expanded, reduced, or simply changed) in the future. WHA did not have sufficient funds to nominate the entire neighborhood of Wedgwood now, because it is huge and we have to hire a consultant (which is very expensive!).
So—for our proposed initial district, we had to present to THC a collection of “resources” (basically structures) in a specified area that formed a cohesive whole, but an area we could afford to survey. We also had to develop a historical context and rationale that tied these specific resources together. (If WHA had had unlimited funds at the outset of this project, we would have proposed a larger district, with more flexibility on what was included.)
The Wedgwood historic district will reflect the specific history of development by Wedgwood Land Company from the period of 1955 to roughly 1976, hence any resource that is obviously in another neighborhood is not eligible. Any resource built after the relevant time period will never be eligible for inclusion in this specific Wedgwood historic district. Although most of the resources in our proposed initial district were built before about 1965, the later end date of the relevant period allows for newer resources to be added down the line by expanding the district, but, again, this will depend on approval from THC and funding.
For our initial Wedgwood district, it was very easy to go from plans the original developers publicized and filed with the city and county. The earliest planning maps we have (one from a 1954-ish sales brochure and another more formal map from 1955) laid out an obvious area for us to consider as the proposed initial district.
The boundaries of our current neighborhood associations were not really a consideration in determining historic district boundaries. There were no NAs when Wedgwood was developed, only some “civic groups,” and the most recent iteration of NAs in Wedgwood evolved from the early 1980s through the last 10-15 years or so.
Within our proposed initial district, each resource will be surveyed and deemed to be either “contributing” or “non-contributing.” As of right now, the proposed district is at least 90-95% contributing because we have not had much in-fill and not many excluding alterations have been made to resources. This is another reason we decided to move forward now with a perhaps smaller district: if we waited too long, more resources would be altered or even demolished, diminishing the contributing percentage of the district. WHA will work with the consultant and THC to determine what makes a resource non-contributing, but we anticipate being pretty flexible. (More to come on that as we move forward.)
A special circumstance is what remains of the Carter Ranch, one of the ranches that made up the land that is now Wedgwood and South Hills. The tract (equivalent to four lots) is listed as being in the Wedgwood addition on its deed and marks the eastern edge of Wedgwood in the earliest maps. So even though the structures there were built before 1955, they will be inside the initial district boundaries because of how the Wedgwood developers treated those lots.
A situation that we would discuss with THC if expanding the district is those resources that lie within the WENA boundaries but indicate South Hills addition on their deeds. We know that the South Hills developers bought at least 400 lots from the Wedgwood developers in 1956, and we are researching this transaction and how it affected/related to the development of Wedgwood.
Similarly, the homes in what we now call Wedgwood South may be best suited for their own historic district if not added to our proposed initial district because although developed by Wedgwood Land Company, there was a different street-naming protocol, different location of mailboxes, larger houses, different architectural styles, etc.
Survey and Nomination Process
The proposed district has already been granted a Determination of Eligibility (for inclusion in the NRHP) in Criterion A for Community Planning and Development and in Criterion C for Architecture, at the local level. Working with HHM & Associates, WHA will survey all of the structures in the proposed district, write a detailed history and justification for the nomination, then submit all of that to the Texas Historical Commission (THC). THC will forward the nomination to the National Park Service for their approval. As part of the survey, each structure will be photographed, described and deemed Contributing or Noncontributing to the Historic District. WHA has already surveyed 1000+ houses, out of 2200+. Survey data and photographs will be incorporated into publicly-accessible databases and GIS maps.
MAPS
All of what is now referred to as being in Wedgwood, with rough phases of build dates.
