Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook
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APPENDIX D:     1. CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION BY THE BOSTON LANDMARKS COMMISSION
                          2. NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Criteria for Designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission

To be designated by the commission, a property or properties must fall within one of the following definitions established under Chapter 772 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1975:

"Landmark", any physical feature or improvement designated by the commission which in whole or part has historical, social, cultural, architectural, or aesthetic significance to the city and the commonwealth, the New England region or the nation.

"Landmark District", any area designated by the commission containing any physical features or improvements or both which are of historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to the city and the commonwealth, the New England region or the nation and cause such area to constitute a distinctive section of the city.

"Architectural Conservation District", any area designated by the commission containing any physical features or improvements or both which are of historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to the city and cause such area to constitute a distinctive section of the city.

"Protection Area", any area designated by the commission which is contiguous to and constitutes an essential part of the physical environment of any architectural conservation district, landmark or landmark district.

Chapter 772 establishes the following additional criteria for designation:

(a) inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places as provided in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966; (b) structures, sites, objects, man-made or natural, at which events occurred that have made an outstanding contribution to, and are identified prominently with, or which best represent some important aspect of the cultural, political, economic, military, or social history of the city, the commonwealth, the New England region or the nation; (c) structures, sites, objects, man-made or natural, representative of elements of architectural or landscape design or craftsmanship which embody distinctive characteristics of a type inherently valuable for study of a period, style or method of construction or development, or a notable work of an architect, landscape architect, designer, or builder whose work influenced the development of the city, the commonwealth, the New England region, or the nation.

The commission may designate any area in the city as a protection area as herein provided upon a finding by the commission that the area to be designated is visually related to the landmark, landmark district or architectural or aesthetic significance to warrant designation as such. In determining the boundaries of a protection area, the commission shall consider the following elements: (a) major views and vistas of and from the landmark, landmark district, or architectural conservation district as determined by the topographical characteristics and the siting of existing buildings in the area contiguous to the landmark, landmark district or architectural conservation district; (b) pattern of roads, paths and alleys which determine the size and shape of land parcels and which control vehicular movement to and from the landmarks, landmark district or architectural conservation district; (c) contrasts between the scale and density of the landmark, landmark district or architectural conservation district and the improvements under consideration for designation as a protection area. In no case shall the protection area extend more than twelve hundred feet from a boundary of the landmark, landmark district or architectural conservation district.

The commission may designate only Landmarks within the area bounded roughly by the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension, the Fort Point Channel, harbor, Charles River and Massachusetts Avenue. Within the Back Bay and Beacon Hill Districts, only landscape features and interior portions of structures may be designated.

National Register of Historic Places Criteria For Evaluation

The National Register's standards for evaluating the significance of properties were developed to recognize the accomplishments of all peoples who have made a significant contribution to our country's history and heritage. The criteria are designed to guide State and local governments, Federal agencies, and others in evaluating potential entries in the National Register.

Criteria:

The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and:

A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or

B. That are associated with the lives of significant persons in or past; or

C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or
    that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual
    distinction; or

D. That have yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory.

Criteria Considerations:

Ordinarily cemeteries, birthplaces, graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions or used for religious purposes, structures that have been moved from their original locations, reconstructed historic buildings, properties primarily commemorative in nature, and properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years shall not be considered eligible for the National Register. However, such properties will qualify if they are integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria or if they fall within the following categories:

  1. A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical

    2. importance; or

  2. A building or structure removed from its original location but which is primarily significant for

    3. architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; or

  3. A birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no appropriate site or

    4. building associated with his or her productive life; or

  4. A cemetery that derives its primary importance from graves of persons of transcendent importance,

    5. from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events; or

  5. A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a

    6. dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived; or

  6. A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested

    7. it with its own exceptional significance; or

  7. A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.

Information on documentation of properties and use of the Criteria for Evaluation may be obtained by writing: National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20013-7127.

(information above from National Park Service web site: www.cr.nps.gov/nr/criteria)


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