Heritage Documentation Programs
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). These programs were established to document historic places in the United States. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written reports, and are archived in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.
The Heritage Documentation Programs team measures the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1934
An HABS photograph of the First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia
An HAER photograph of the Rocky Flats Plant in Boulder, Colorado
An HALS photograph of San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations. The United States Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior.
In 1934, a series of ten postage stamps was issued to commemorate the reorganization and expansion of the National Park Service.
NPS Preliminary Survey party, Great Smoky Mountains, 1931
Grand Canyon National Park, south rim of canyon.
Customs House at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site in Salem, Massachusetts