KPA News Conent Service
The Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, the primary record of Kentucky's historic places, has now topped 90,000 entries, according to the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office.
The registry contains detailed information about historic buildings and sites throughout the Commonwealth, with files dating to the first statewide survey in 1971.
The registry includes individual listings of houses, barns, outbuildings, commercial buildings and landscape features such as rock fences – documented through extensive research and fieldwork.
The registry's 90,000th entry is for a 1½-story log residence in Bedford, in Trimble County, topped by a side-gable, wood-shingle roof and built on a cut-stone foundation, documented by Wilbur Smith Associates.
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires state historic preservation offices to collect and maintain survey records, which are used to help identify resources for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places as well as to provide data for federal, state and local projects.
The Heritage Council adds to this inventory each year by conducting surveys of communities, neighborhoods and counties.
Heritage Council staff and local groups, individuals and consultants help compile the survey.
Many of the individual survey files contain multiple historic resources and cover a broad historic period, from Kentucky’s settlement in the 18th century to the recent past.
In addition to noting a site’s primary function, surveyors record construction date, architect and/or builder, stylistic influences, construction methods and materials, dimensions and major modifications. Each survey is also required to be submitted with photos documenting the surveyed resources.
“Ninety thousand documented resources is a big milestone, reflecting more than 40 years of painstaking fieldwork, research and data management with contributions from hundreds of dedicated professionals, students and amateurs. Our work, however, is far from done,” said Bill Macintire, Heritage Council survey coordinator.
“Many historic sites remain undocumented, and as time passes, many more become old enough for our consideration. In recent years we have faced the challenge of decreased funding for historic sites survey, but our pace of documentation has remained pretty steady. At the current rate, we will probably hit 100,000 sites by 2014 or 2015.”
Survey files are maintained in the Heritage Council office and logged into a searchable database.
Archaeology survey files of historic and prehistoric archaeological resources are recorded and maintained by the Office of State Archaeology and the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, a partnership between the Heritage Council and University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology.
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. Kentucky has the fourth highest number of National Register listings in the nation – more than 3,200 districts, sites and structures encompassing more than 42,000 historic features.
According to Macintire, Kentucky’s strong showing in the National Register program reflects the strength of the Commonwealth’s historic resources inventory program. Notably, sites listed in or eligible for the National Register can qualify for tax credits and other state and federal incentives for historic rehabilitation.
For more information about the survey program, forms and instructions, or examples of historic contexts, visit the Heritage Council website at www.heritage.ky.gov or contact Macintire, bill.macintire@ky.gov or 502-564-7005, ext. 124.
