Historic Preservation

Our goal is to foster a better understanding and appreciation of our common heritage and to document and preserve properties that reflect an inclusive American history. Not everything that is old is considered historic, because things may have been changed. Places may still be culturally significant and important to the community, although they may not qualify for listing as historical resources. Guerra & McBane can help you evaluate these resources, document the property and prepare the nominations if they appear to be eligible.

Places that are important to your community but not on an official list of historically significant places may still be considered historic-with additional documentation. Agencies rely on finding historic material in public archives or reports, but many sources are not to be found in these repositories. At Guerra & McBane, we also rely on uncovering community archives, personal collections, and oral history research to help tell those unwritten stories

Guerra & McBane has evaluated hundreds of resources on projects ranging in size from a single building to whole neighborhoods. Surveys may document groups of resources such as an industrial or commercial district, or a residential neighborhood, or individual properties. All properties are evaluated against a historic context, the historical setting within which properties are created. Our historians can create a historic context and themes for your survey or update or expand upon an existing document.

In some instances it may not be possible to save a historic resource so it is important to document the property before it is gone in order to ensure that its history is not lost. Properties may be listed on local, state or federal registers of historical resources. Reports prepared for the Historic American Buildings Survey or the Historic American Engineering Record may also be archived in the State Library or in regional repositories.