The National Register of Historic Places is the United States' official list of buildings, districts, structures, sites, and objects important to local, state, or national history.
The program is run by the National Park Service and administered locally by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, an office of the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD).
What are the benefits of listing a property, site, or district in the National Register?
What are the restrictions associated with listing in the National Register?
- Owners of properties listed in the National Register who choose to take advantage of federal and state tax benefits and grant programs must comply with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
- Oregon State law requires local governments to review proposals to demolish or relocate properties listed in the National Register.
- Local governments have the authority to form local historic districts and landmarks and may also create additional protections or incentives for properties listed in the National Register through a separate local process.
For information about how your local government may regulate National Register-listed properties, contact your local planning office.
Getting Started with a Historic Resource Record Form
The first step is to complete a Historic Resource Record (HRR) form. This form collects information regarding the history of the property, its appearance, and any known alterations, as well as exterior and interior photographs. When complete, please submit the form to SHPO staff via email at ORSHPO.NationalRegisterProgram@oprd.oregon.gov. If the file size is too large to email, please email us at the same address to request a link to our filesharing site.
If, after review of the HRR form and photographs, SHPO staff believe the property may be eligible for the National Register, they will provide information on next steps. This generally involves a meeting or phone call to describe the application timeline and requirements, recommend research avenues, and answer questions about the process.
Please note, the HRR form is not a National Register nomination form and does not, in and of itself, nominate a property to the National Register. It is intended only to provide enough information for SHPO staff to provide a recommendation as to the property's potential eligibility for the National Register, and/or potential avenues for future research.
Preparing a National Register Nomination
A National Register nomination is a federal document with specific technical requirements. The average nomination for an individual property requires more than 100 hours of research and writing to complete. SHPO staff support preparers as needed with nominations but typically do not have capacity to complete nominations for preparers.
For instructions on completing the National Register nomination form, please contact SHPO staff and refer to the following resources:
See the next section of this webpage, "Nomination Submission Deadlines & Process," for next steps.
Deadlines For Submission
Every National Register nomination is reviewed by the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (SACHP). The SACHP meets three times a year. To be considered at one of these meetings, a complete nomination must be submitted by one of the following draft deadlines and determined by SHPO staff to be technically and professionally correct and sufficient.
| Draft Deadline: | SACHP Meeting Month: |
| March 1st | June |
| July 1st | October |
| November 1st | February |
Please email complete nominations along with copies of the digital photographs to ORSHPO.NationalRegisterProgram@oprd.oregon.gov by one of these draft deadlines. If the file size is too large to email, please email us at the same address to request a link to our filesharing site. If in need of an alternate submission format, please email that request to the address above.
Nomination Process
See the National Register Process in Oregon flow chart for a brief overview of the process for listing a property to the National Register.
Nominations Under Consideration/In Process
Nominations scheduled for the upcoming State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (SACHP) meeting:
- See the SACHP agenda for the next meeting and nominations being considered
Nominations recently forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register:
For more information about the SACHP, meetings, agendas, and recordings of previous meetings, visit our Commissions & Committees webpage.
How to Comment on a National Register Nomination
Any
individual, government entity, or organization may comment on pending
National Register nominations. The public comment period for all
nominations begins no less than 30 calendar days nor more than 75 calendar days before the State Advisory Committee on
Historic Preservation meeting at which the nomination will be considered.
Please mail comments to:
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
State Historic Preservation Office
725 Summer Street NE, Suite C
OR
Email: ORSHPO.NationalRegisterProgram@oprd.oregon.gov
Oregon Properties Recently Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
- Ursula K. Le Guin House in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in June 2026. Located in Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood, the Ursula K. Le Guin House was the longtime residence and creative workspace of one of the most influential American authors of the twentieth and early twenty first centuries. Between 1960 and 2018, Le Guin wrote many of her most celebrated works here, including A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), and The Dispossessed (1974). These works shaped modern speculative fiction and earned numerous literary honors, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the National Book Award. The house preserves the interior spaces most closely associated with her writing, including her second floor writing studio and attic workspace, as well as the surrounding gardens. As the place most directly associated with Le Guin’s creative life and legacy, the property offers a rare and tangible connection to this celebrated literary figure. View the nomination.
- La Grande Carnegie Library in La Grande, Union County, listed in June 2026. Completed in 1913 with funding from the Carnegie Corporation, the La Grande Carnegie Library reflects the city’s early commitment to expanding public access to education and information. For more than half a century, it served as La Grande’s primary public educational hub, supporting public schools, hosting community programs, and offering resources for children, adults, and lifelong learners. Architecturally, the building is an excellent example of Classical Revival design and a strong representative of the Carnegie Library Program’s standardized planning ideals, featuring a symmetrical façade, central staircase, brick construction, and efficient interior layout. Designed by local architects Bunting & Block, the library retains a high degree of integrity. View the nomination.
- Arthur H. Devers House in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in February 2026. Completed in 1891, the Arthur H. Devers House was the longtime residence of one of Portland’s most influential early‑twentieth‑century business and civic leaders. While living here between1891 and 1908, Devers helped shape major regional initiatives, including the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905, early planning efforts that led to the Civic Improvement League and the Bennett Plan, and federal support for the Dalles‑Celilo Canal. The house is the only surviving property closely associated with Devers during this formative period, offering a tangible link to his role in Portland’s commercial growth and civic development. View the nomination.
- Balch Gulch Bridge in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in September 2025. Designed by engineer James B. C. Lockwood and completed in 1905 the Balch Gulch Bridge carries NW Thurman Street across Balch Creek in Northwest Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood. It is Oregon’s only remaining pin-connected deck truss highway bridge and a rare example of early twentieth-century bridge engineering. It catalyzed the development of Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood by extending streetcar service across the gulch, and it also played a small role in advertising Portland to visitors and potential investors during the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial exposition. The bridge’s listing recognizes both its engineering significance and its contribution to Portland’s urban growth. View the nomination.
- Methodist Episcopal Church of Union in Union, Union County, listed in September 2025. Built in 1905 by Union’s Methodist Episcopal congregation, the two-and-one-half story brick church—now home to the Catherine Creek Community Center—stands as a rare and well-preserved example of Late Gothic Revival architecture in rural northeastern Oregon. Notable for its cross-shaped plan, steep gabled rooflines, lancet stained-glass windows, and elaborate corner belltower with Queen Anne detailing, the building also features original interior elements such as curved wood pews and tamboured wood partitions. Its design may reflect the influence of nationally renowned church architect Benjamin D. Price. View the nomination.
- Oregon Country Methodist Mission Sites: 1834-1847 MPD, accepted in June 2025. This Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPD) provides a thematic framework for identifying, evaluating, and nominating historic properties associated with the Methodist mission to the Oregon Country during the mid-nineteenth century. The MPD contextualizes how these missions attempted to convert and assimilate Indigenous communities in present-day Washington and Oregon, activities that supported Euro-American settlement but also inflicted long-lasting harm on Native peoples and their cultures. This MPD, which is intended to serve as the basis for future National Register listings, was submitted and accepted alongside the nomination for the Mill Place House Site. View the documentation.
- Mill Place House Site in Salem, Marion County, listed in June 2025. Constructed in 1841 by Methodist missionaries as part of their newly established Central Station in what would become Salem, the Mill Place House was the earliest known Euro-American dwelling in the area. Though the house itself was relocated in 1963, archaeological investigations in 2020 confirmed that the foundation remains beneath a present-day parking lot and yielded mission-period artifacts. Listed under Criterion A for its role in early missionary settlement and Criterion D for its archaeological significance, the site reflects the work of Reverend Jason Lee and others whose efforts to Christianize and enculturate the Santiam Kalapuya people were part of broader nineteenth century U.S. expansionist policies—efforts that played a central role in shaping Oregon’s early development, while also contributing to the displacement and cultural disruption of Indigenous communities. View the nomination.
- Mingus Park Community Building in Coos Bay, Coos County, listed in May 2025. The Mingus Park Community Building, also known as the Scout Cabin, was designed by Clarence E. Landes and constructed between December 1939 and July 1940 by WPA laborers using local materials. Nestled along the northwest forested edge of Mingus Park, the one-story Rustic-style building features a post-and-beam ceiling, a distinctive double-sided stone fireplace, and vertical D-log cladding both inside and out. The building has long been a hub for youth scouting activities and community events, retaining its historic integrity with minimal alterations over the decades. It is listed under the Oregon New Deal Resources from the PWA and WPA, 1933-1943 Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) Form due to its association with recreation and civic engagement in Coos Bay and as an excellent example of WPA Rustic architecture in southwestern Oregon. View the nomination.
- Owyhee Grocery in the vicinity of Nyssa (vic.) Malheur County, listed in May 2025. Constructed in 1933 at the intersection of OR-201 and Owyhee Avenue, Owyhee Grocery has long served as a key commercial hub for travelers between Nyssa, Adrian, and the Owyhee Dam. Originally established as a service station, the store evolved into a convenience shop, self-service fuel station, and restaurant, continuing its role as a vital gathering place for the community. Architecturally, the building exemplifies 1930s roadside commercial design, with its deep setback from the roadway, ample pull-in parking, and distinctive façade featuring a parapeted gable clad in petrified wood and volcanic rock. It is recognized as locally significant for its role in regional commerce between 1933 and 1937 and as an excellent example of roadside commercial architecture unique to Malheur County. View the nomination.
To check whether a property in Oregon is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, visit the Historic Sites Database.
Properties can also be locally designated and might be subject to local restrictions. Be sure to check your local government for local landmark designations that may exist. Your local planning office is a good place to start.