Cultural Resources Mapping

What are Cultural Resources?

Cultural resources are the physical remnants of our past. They tell us about when people lived, where they traveled, how they ate, who they interacted with, and why they formed relationships.  Cultural resources can include many types of features: buildings, structures, districts, sites, or objects. 

The National Register of Historic Places

Cultural resources are recorded in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NRHP is a curated list of all of the districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant to our country's prehistory and history.  There are sites all over the U.S. that tell us something about the history of our country - things like flint shards discarded from tool making, old barns, piles of animals bones, even your grandmom's house. But, not all of these are associated with important historic context or have enough historic integrity to retain its significance. The NRHP is the dividing line of which sites are worth preservation and which are not. Those sites that are significant enough for preservation are either officially listed on the NRHP or are called "NRHP eligible" sites.  Sites that are not significant enough for preservation are ineligible for listing on the NRHP.

NRHP sites fall into 5 categories:

1. Building: A house, barn, church, courthouse, jail or other building with the principle purpose to shelter humans
   
   
2. Structure: Building made for purposes other than sheltering humans
   
   
3. Object: Items that are artistic in nature or small in scale associated with a specific setting or environment
   
   
4. Site: Location of a specific event, occupation, or activity where the location itself possess historic, cultural, or archaeological value
   
   
5. District: An area of significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, building, or structures united by a common history