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National Register of Historic Places

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 on the National Register?

What are the restrictions of being listed on the National Register?

  • Owners of properties listed in the National Register choosing to take advantage of federal and state tax benefits and grant programs must comply with federal standards 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 for properties listed in the National Register through a separate local process.

To find out more about how your local government may regulate National Register listed properties, please contact the local planning office.

Where to Start

The first step is to complete a Historic Resource Record (HRR). The form collects information regarding the brief history of the building, known changes to the building, and exterior and interior photographs of the resource.

If after review of the HRR the SHPO staff believes the property may be eligible for the National Register, the second step is to conduct additional historical research on a property.

Helpful Resources for Research

Prepare the National Register Nomination

After submitting a HRR and additional research, it is time to prepare a National Register nomination.

A National Register nomination is a federal document with specific technical requirements. SHPO staff can assist preparers as needed with nomination forms, but SHPO staff does not complete nominations for preparers.

Steps to begin:

  1. Photograph the property
  2. Complete the Nomination form
  3. Submit a complete nomination
See the next section on "Nomination Submission Deadlines & Process" for the next steps.

Deadlines For Submission

Every National Register nomination is reviewed by the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (SACHP). The SACHP meets 3 times a year. To be considered at one of their hearings, a complete nomination must be submitted by one of the following draft deadlines.

Draft Deadlines for consideration at the SACHP MeetingSACHP Meeting Months
March 1stJune
July 1stOctober
November 1stFebruary


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 file sharing site. If in need of an alternative 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 in listing a property to the National Register.

Nominations Under Consideration/In Process

Nominations scheduled for the upcoming SACHP meeting:

  • See the SACHP agenda for the next meeting and nominations being considered

Nominations recently forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register:

Additional nomination pages:

For more information about the SACHP, meetings, agendas, and minutes, visit Commissions/Committees.

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 60 days before the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation meeting.

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

Recently Listed Oregon Properties in the National Register of Historic Places

  • South Park Blocks, Portland, Multnomah County, listed in March 2022 - The South Park Blocks (SPB), is an 8.76-acre, city-owned park in downtown Portland. SPB, officially addressed as 1003 SW Park Avenue, encompasses twelve blocks and serves as the anchor of downtown’s cultural and educational districts. The park illustrates the pedestrian mall concept which became a popular urban redevelopment scheme in the United States starting in the 1950s and through the 1970s.  The park mall concept is reflected in SPB’s linear north-south contiguous greenspace nestled within urban buildings, cultural venues, apartments, Portland State University (PSU) campus buildings, and historic churches. The boundaries of the SPB were selected because they represent the boundaries of the park within its period of significance (1852-1973) and includes all of the contributing resources that relate to that period.  Originally conceived by Daniel H. Lownsdale, the park area has been consistently defined since its original platting in 1852 with few changes to the park’s historic boundaries.  In the 1870’s, the city established the park’s formal landscape design under the guidance of Portland horticulturist Louis G. Pfunder. SPB nomination form.

  • Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop, Portland, Multnomah County, listed March 2022 -   Located in Portland’s Eliot neighborhood on NE Hancock Street, Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop is the oldest confirmed, continuously-operating Black-owned barber shop or salon in Portland.  The building, designed by Benjamin Dean with the assistance of local Portland architect Jack P. Stuhl, was completed and opened for business in 1956. It has transitioned through three generations of Dean family ownership, established itself as an important gathering space for the local African American community, and succeeded in creating generational wealth through entrepreneurship despite the discrimination they faced as Black business owners in mid-twentieth century Portland. During the period of significance (1956 to 1979), the business survived the upheaval of urban renewal and transportation development programs that displaced many of their clients and neighboring Black-owned businesses in Lower Albina. They remain an important cultural and gathering space for many members of Portland’s Black community. Nomination form.

  • Golden West Hotel, Portland, Multnomah County, listed March 2022 – This was the only hotel in Portland with an African American proprietor and the only major hotel to welcome African American guests from 1906 to its closure in 1930, becoming one of the most important community gathering places for African Americans living in or visiting Portland. Located in Portland’s northwest quadrant just blocks from Portland’s Union Station, the hotel serviced mainly Black railway porters, cooks, barbers, waiters, and travelers who passed through Portland via Union Station, but also by traveling entertainers, athletes, politicians and activists, all of whom were denied lodging at white-owned establishments, because of their race.  The hotel and the smaller commercial spaces in the basement and ground floor, most of which were owned and operated by African Americans, provided recreational opportunities and social gathering spaces for the local African American community in early twentieth-century Portland. Nomination form.

  • Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, Portland, Multnomah County, listed in March 2022 – This building was used primarily as a worship space, but is significant for its association with the history of Portland’s African American community and not from its religious association. The church was heavily involved in the local African American community as a venue for prominent speakers, choir performances, social events, and meetings of civil rights and community groups from 1923 through 1973 near the end of the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal Project. Mt. Olivet Baptist Church is the only church building that remains of the four African American Christian churches that relocated to Lower Albina in the early twentieth century. Nomination form.

​To see if a property in Oregon is 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. A good place to start is with your local planning office.


Contact

Robert Olguin
(503) 602-2468
robert.olguin@oprd.oregon.gov

National Register Resources

Guides
Forms
Additional Resources