Hallowell, Maine
Hallowell is a city in Kennebec County, United States. The population was 2,381 at the 2010 census. Popular with tourists, Hallowell is noted for old architecture. Hallowell is included in Maine micropolitan New England City and Town Area; the city is named for Benjamin Hallowell, a Boston merchant and one of the Kennebec Proprietors, holders of land granted to the Plymouth Company by the British monarchy in the 1620s. First to settle here was Deacon Pease Clark, who emigrated with his wife and son Peter from Attleborough, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1762. Legend has it that after disembarking on the west side of the Kennebec, near present-day Water Street, the Clarks took shelter in their overturned cart. On a riverfront lot measuring 50 rods, the Clark family raised corn and other crops; the first land they cleared was occupied by the fire department in 1859. In 1797, the modern city of Augusta split from Hallowell to be a separate town; the part of Hallowell, the current city was known as "The Hook".
Today, the city's population is only smaller than it was in 1820, the year Maine seceded from Massachusetts and became a state. Yet 183 years ago, Hallowell's inhabitants enjoyed the services of 71 stores along Water Street. Thriving industries included logging, trading and shipbuilding. Location on the navigable Kennebec River estuary allowed 50 ships launched from Hallowell's wharves to reach the Atlantic Ocean between 1783 and 1901. Two grist mills, five sawmills and two slaughterhouses served the needs of residents far. In 1815, the first granite quarried near the Manchester town line signaled the birth of an industry that would support Hallowell until 1908, when cement displaced stone as the construction material of choice. In 1826, the ice industry began in earnest. Frozen blocks loaded onto Hallowell's schooners were delivered to the West Indies. Other local products exported via the Kennebec from Hallowell included sandpaper, textiles from cotton from the Deep South, linseed oil, wire and shoes.
While the Kennebec River sustained the city from its inception, this mighty freeway inspired fear. Spring floods terrorized shopkeepers and sometimes brought commerce to a standstill. Worse still, citizens eager to cross the river in winter and unwary children skating and playing too far from the riverbank lost their lives when ice turned out to be thinner than it looked. On July 9, 1816, a freak frost during the Year Without a Summer destroyed crops and forced hungry families to sell their farms for half their worth. In 1874, the state opened the Maine Industrial School for Girls in Hallowell. Operated until the 1970s, it was the state's first reform school for girls. Hallowell is located at 44°17′12″N 69°47′52″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.09 square miles, of which, 5.88 square miles is land and 0.21 square miles is water. Drained by Vaughn Brook, Hallowell is bounded by the Kennebec River; the city is crossed by Interstate 95, as well as state routes 27 and 201.
It borders the towns of Farmingdale to the south, Manchester to the west, Augusta to the north, Chelsea across the Kennebec River to the east. This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hallowell has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. Hallowell is nicknamed "The Little Easy," or "New Orleans on the Kennebec." The city is known as "Maine's Antique Riverport."Since 1968, the community has hosted Old Hallowell Day, an annual celebration hosted on the third weekend of July, that includes a parade and live performances. The city is the home of one of Maine's oldest community theater companies. Hallowell has been a regional center for the arts for many years in central Maine, with renowned art galleries, performing arts theaters, studios and local artists. Hallowell is home to renowned bars and restaurants, with the downtown area having a high concentration of eating and drinking establishments.
The Hallowell Farmers' Market takes place every Tuesday from 4:00PM until dark on the riverfront. As of the census of 2010, there were 2,381 people, 1,193 households, 556 families residing in the city; the population density was 404.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 1,329 housing units at an average density of 226.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 95.5% White, 0.7% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.1% from other races, 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population. There were 1,193 households of which 17.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.3% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, 53.4% were non-families. 45.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.2% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.89 and the average family size was 2.63.
The median age in the city was 50.5 years. 14% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 46.3% male and 53.7% female. As of the census of 2000, there were
The Blaine House
The Blaine House known as James G. Blaine House, is the official residence of the Governor of Maine and his or her family; the Executive Mansion was declared the residence of the Governor in 1919 with the name "Blaine House". It is located at Capitol and State streets across the street from the Maine State House; the Blaine House was donated to the State of Maine for use as a Governor's residence by Harriet Blaine Beale in 1919. It is misconstrued to be the house of Blaine A. Marks; the house was built by James Hall, a retired ship's captain. James G. Blaine the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, purchased it in 1862 as a present for his wife, the former Harriet Stanwood, daughter of a prominent Augusta family. Blaine enlarged the building, constructing an addition at the rear, a near replica of the original structure, removing interior walls to create a large entertainment space. During World War I the house was used by Maine's Committee for Public Safety, it was presented to the State by Blaine's youngest daughter, Mrs. Harriet Blaine Beale, established by the 1919 Legislature as the official residence of the Governor of Maine.
It was remodeled, to designs by the noted Maine architect John Calvin Stevens, prior to the first governor taking residence in 1921. Carl E. Miliken was the first governor to occupy the residence; the Blaine House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, for its association with Blaine, an influential political and diplomatic figure on the national stage in the decades following the Civil War. In June 2014, a system of high efficiency heat pumps was installed in the Blaine House in an effort to reduce the heating bill, after a test of one over the winter in the Governor's sleeping quarters. With heating oil, the Blaine House used 5,074 gallons of oil at a cost of $16,775 in 2013; the oil boiler is going to be converted to natural gas in a further effort to reduce costs, though that system will only be needed on the coldest days. The total cost of the upgrades is expected to be $115,000; the current residents are her family. List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine National Register of Historic Places listings in Kennebec County, Maine Media related to Blaine House at Wikimedia Commons Blaine House home page Blaine House information page Blaine House "James G. Blaine, Presidential Contender" from C-SPAN's The Contenders, broadcast from the Blaine House
Cornerstone
The cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or replica, set in a prominent location on the outside of a building, with an inscription on the stone indicating the construction dates of the building and the names of architect and other significant individuals; the rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred architecture generally. Some cornerstones include time capsules from, or engravings commemorating, the time a particular building was built; the ceremony involved the placing of offerings of grain and oil on or under the stone. These were the people of the land and the means of their subsistence; this in turn derived from the practice in still more ancient times of making an animal or human sacrifice, laid in the foundations.
Frazer in The Golden Bough charts the various propitiary sacrifices and effigy substitution such as the shadow, states that: Nowhere does the equivalence of the shadow to the life or soul come out more than in some customs practised to this day in South-eastern Europe. In modern Greece, when the foundation of a new building is being laid, it is the custom to kill a cock, a ram, or a lamb, to let its blood flow on the foundation-stone, under which the animal is afterwards buried; the object of the sacrifice is to give stability to the building. But sometimes, instead of killing an animal, the builder entices a man to the foundation-stone, secretly measures his body, or a part of it, or his shadow, buries the measure under the foundation-stone, it is believed. The Roumanians of Transylvania think that he whose shadow is thus immured will die within forty days. Not long ago there were still shadow-traders whose business it was to provide architects with the shadows necessary for securing their walls.
In these cases the measure of the shadow is looked on as equivalent to the shadow itself, to bury it is to bury the life or soul of the man, deprived of it, must die. Thus the custom is a substitute for the old practice of immuring a living person in the walls, or crushing him under the foundation-stone of a new building, in order to give strength and durability to the structure, or more in order that the angry ghost may haunt the place and guard it against the intrusion of enemies. Ancient Japan legends talk about Hitobashira, in which maidens were buried alive at the base or near some constructions as a prayer to ensure the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks. A VIP of the organization, or a local celebrity or community leader, will be invited to conduct the ceremony of figuratively beginning the foundations of the building, with the person's name and official position and the date being recorded on the stone; this person is asked to place their hand on the stone or otherwise signify its laying.
Still, until the 1970s, most ceremonies involved the use of a specially manufactured and engraved trowel that had a formal use in laying mortar under the stone. A special hammer was used to ceremonially tap the stone into place; the foundation stone has a cavity into, placed a time capsule containing newspapers of the day or week of the ceremony plus other artifacts that are typical of the period of the construction: coins of the year may be immured in the cavity or time capsule. Freemasons sometimes perform the public cornerstone laying ceremony for notable buildings; this ceremony was described by The Cork Examiner of 13 January 1865 as follows:... The Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Munster, applying the golden square and level to the stone said. After this, Bishop Gregg spread cement over the stone with a trowel specially made for the occasion by John Hawkesworth, a silversmith and a jeweller, he gave the stone three knocks with a mallet and declared the stone to be'duly and laid'. The Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Munster poured offerings of corn and wine over the stone after Bishop Gregg had declared it to be'duly and laid'.
The Provincial Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Order in Munster read out the following prayer:'May the Great Architect of the universe enable us as to carry out and finish this work. May He protect the workmen from danger and accident, long preserve the structure from decay. So mote it be.' The choir and congregation sang the Hundredth Psalm. In Freemasonry, which grew from the practice of stonemasons, the initiate is placed in the north-east corner of the Lodge as a figurative foundation stone; this is intended to signify the unity of the North associated with darkness and the East associated with light. A cornerstone will sometimes be referred to as a "foundation-stone", is symbolic of Christ, whom the Apostle Paul referred to as the "head of the corner" and is the "Chief Cornerstone of the Church". A chief or head cornerstone is placed above two wall
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals. Anthropomorphism derives from its verb form anthropomorphize, itself derived from the Greek ánthrōpos and morphē, it is first attested in 1753 in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the Christian God. From the beginnings of human behavioral modernity in the Upper Paleolithic, about 40,000 years ago, examples of zoomorphic works of art occur that may represent the earliest evidence we have of anthropomorphism.
One of the oldest known is an ivory sculpture, the Löwenmensch figurine, Germany, a human-shaped figurine with the head of a lioness or lion, determined to be about 32,000 years old. It is not possible to say. A more recent example is The Sorcerer, an enigmatic cave painting from the Trois-Frères Cave, Ariège, France: the figure's significance is unknown, but it is interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master of the animals. In either case there is an element of anthropomorphism; this anthropomorphic art has been linked by archaeologist Steven Mithen with the emergence of more systematic hunting practices in the Upper Palaeolithic. He proposes that these are the product of a change in the architecture of the human mind, an increasing fluidity between the natural history and social intelligences, where anthropomorphism allowed hunters to identify empathetically with hunted animals and better predict their movements. In religion and mythology, anthropomorphism is the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings.
Ancient mythologies represented the divine as deities with human forms and qualities. They resemble human beings not only in personality; the deities fell in love, had children, fought battles, wielded weapons, rode horses and chariots. They feasted on special foods, sometimes required sacrifices of food and sacred objects to be made by human beings; some anthropomorphic deities represented specific human concepts, such as love, fertility, beauty, or the seasons. Anthropomorphic deities exhibited human qualities such as beauty and power, sometimes human weaknesses such as greed, hatred and uncontrollable anger. Greek deities such as Zeus and Apollo were depicted in human form exhibiting both commendable and despicable human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is, more anthropotheism. From the perspective of adherents to religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the phenomenon may be considered theomorphism, or the giving of divine qualities to humans. Anthropomorphism has cropped up as a Christian heresy prominently with the Audians in third century Syria, but in fourth century Egypt and tenth century Italy.
This was based on a literal interpretation of Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him. Some religions and philosophers objected to anthropomorphic deities; the earliest known criticism was that of the Greek philosopher Xenophanes who observed that people model their gods after themselves. He argued against the conception of deities as fundamentally anthropomorphic: But if cattle and horses and lions had handsor could paint with their hands and create works such as men do,horses like horses and cattle like cattlealso would depict the gods' shapes and make their bodiesof such a sort as the form they themselves have.... Ethiopians say that their gods are snub -- blackThracians that they are pale and red-haired. Xenophanes said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind". Both Judaism and Islam reject an anthropomorphic deity, believing that God is beyond human comprehension. Judaism's rejection of an anthropomorphic deity grew during the Hasmonean period, when Jewish belief incorporated some Greek philosophy.
Judaism's rejection grew further after the Islamic Golden Age in the tenth century, which Maimonides codified in the twelfth century, in his thirteen principles of Jewish faith. Hindus do not reject the concept of a deity in the abstract unmanifested, but note practical problems. Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verse 5, that it is much more difficult for people to focus on a deity as the unmanifested than one with form, using anthropomorphic icons, because people need to perceive with their senses. In Faces in the Clouds, anthropologist Stewart Guthrie proposes that all religions are anthropomorphisms that originate in the brain's tendency to detect the presence or vestiges of other humans in natural phenomena. In secular thought, one of the most notable criticisms began in 1600 with Francis Bacon, who argued against Aristotle's teleology, which declared that everything behaves as it does in order to achieve some end, in order to fulfill itself. Bacon pointed out that achieving ends is a human activity and to attribute it to nature misconstrues it as humanlike.
Modern criticisms followed Bacon's ideas such as critiques
William Clark Noble
William Clark Noble was an American sculptor best known for his monuments. His father, Clark Noble, died at sea, his mother Emma Freeman, older brother, infant Clark went to live on her father's farm in Richmond, Maine. He studied with Lorado Taft. Taft, in his History of American Sculpture, remarked that Noble was one of a group of sculptors who had, "made something of a specialty of military figures."Noble designed coinage for Guatemala and Panama. His Guatemalan quetzal and Panamanian balboa each exchanged for one US dollar, he was a member of the National Sculpture Society. He married three times, his son, William Clark Noble, Jr. became an artist. Noble and his widow Emile are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Maine. Reverend Charles T. Brooks Memorial, Channing Memorial Church, Rhode Island. Bas-relief portrait of Reverend Charles T. Brooks, Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Rhode Island. Bust of John McCullough as Virginius, McCullough grave, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Pennsylvania, John Lackme, architect.
The bust is missing from the grave monument. Old Salt – Bust of Captain James Logan. Reverend William Ellery Channing, Touro Park, Rhode Island. Joseph Jefferson Loving Cup, New Orleans Museum of Art. Modeled in plaster by Noble, cast in silver by Gorham Manufacturing Company. Features three 10.5 in figures of Jefferson in the roles of Rip van Winkle, Dr. Pangloss, Bob Acres. Auctioned at Sotheby's New York, 21 January 2011, Lot 127. Statuette: Joseph Jefferson as Rip van Winkle. One of the figures from the loving cup. Lion and Eagle, Commercial Cable Company Building, 20-22 Broad Street, New York City, G. E. Harding & Gooch, architects; the bronze figures stood upon piers at the 5th story of the building's façade. They represented England and the United States – the two terminals of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable. Bishop Phillips Brooks Memorial, Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, New York City. A full-length bronze bas-relief portrait with a glass mosaic background by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
General Anthony Wayne. Exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri; this and other larger-than-life statues of historical figures from the 1904 World's Fair decorated Pennsylvania Avenue during President Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural parade, March 4, 1905. Monsignor Doane, Doane Park, New Jersey. Minerva or Lady of Wisdom, Maine State House dome, Maine; the 15-foot finial figure stands atop the lantern of the 185-foot State House. Lincoln the Candidate, private collection. Bas-relief portrait of Edward Everett Hale, American Unitarian Association Library, Massachusetts. Bust of George Washington Carver. Statuette: Honus Wagner, Roman Bronze Works. Bas-relief portrait of Mary Baker Eddy. Bas-relief portrait of Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Portrait medallion of Charles William Eliot, Fogg Museum, Harvard University. Diameter: 6 in Newport Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Congdon Park, Rhode Island. General Josiah Porter, Van Cortlandt Park, New York City. A replica is on the grounds of Albany.
50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve Infantry Monument, Antietam Battlefield, Maryland. The statue is a posthumous portrait of General Benjamin C. Christ. 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry "Roundheads" Monument, Antietam Battlefield, Maryland. A replica is at the Civil War Monument, Danville National Cemetery, Illinois. Civil War Memorial, Centre County Courthouse, Pennsylvania. Governor Andrew Curtin, Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania. A replica was added to the Civil War Memorial, Pennsylvania. A replica is at Governor Curtin Park, Pennsylvania. Bas-relief: In Flanders's Fields, World War I Memorial, Riverview Congregational Church, South Gardiner, Maine. "William Clark Noble". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2015-10-01. John Kelly, "A Mom-umental Failure," The Washington Post Magazine, May 11, 2008
Gardiner, Maine
Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, United States. The population was 5,800 at the 2010 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for old architecture. Gardiner is included in Maine micropolitan New England City and Town Area. Located at the head of navigation on the Kennebec River, Gardiner was founded as Gardinerstown Plantation in 1754 by Dr. Silvester Gardiner, a prominent Boston physician. Dr. Gardiner had made a fortune as a drug merchant, with one apothecary shop in Massachusetts and two in Connecticut, became a principal proprietor of the Kennebec Purchase within the old Plymouth Patent, he proved a tireless promoter for his development. Dr. Gardiner induced a gristmill builder, saw millwright, house carpenter and wheelwright to settle here. Houses, mills, a church and a blockhouse were built. Situated at the confluence of the Kennebec River and Cobbesseecontee Stream, which has falls that drop 130 feet, the location was recognized by him as ideal for water-powered mills. Gardinerstown, set off from Pittston in 1760, became center of the regional economy.
The wilderness toils of Dr. Gardiner would end, with the Revolution. Loyal to the Crown, he fled Boston in 1776, but his settlement lived on without him, in 1803 was incorporated as the town of Gardiner. From the early 19th century until the Civil War and trade were primary industries, it would become a city in 1849. Lumber, in vast quantities, passed through Gardiner. Tanneries and shoe factories prospered; the city became known worldwide for exporting ice. Each winter men cut large blocks from the Kennebec River covered the ice with sawdust in warehouses to keep it frozen into summer, it was loaded year-round on large vessels for shipment throughout world. Gardiner was noted for its pristine Kennebec ice, harvested at the furthest point upriver that deep-draft vessels could reach. In 1851, the city was connected by railroad. One of the first workable steam automobiles in America was built in Gardiner in 1858. Beginning in the 1860s, paper mills flourished, as did the commercial ice industry between the 1880s and 1920s.
By the 1960s, many mills declined and closed, sending Gardiner's economy plummeting. The former mill town is now a bedroom community for people who work in Augusta, the state's capital, as well as Bath Iron Works in Bath; some residents commute as far as the Portland area. The city is endowed with a great deal of antique architecture, much of it beautifully restored. In 1980, the entire downtown historic district became one of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kennebec County, Maine. Gardiner is located at 44°12′21″N 69°47′31″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.57 square miles, of which 15.65 square miles is land and 0.92 square miles is water. Gardiner is drained by the Cobbesseeconte Kennebec River; this climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Gardiner has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,800 people, 2,487 households, 1,550 families residing in the city. The population density was 370.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 2,778 housing units at an average density of 177.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 95.4% White, 0.3% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.4% from other races, 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 2,487 households of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, 37.7% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age in the city was 40.9 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,198 people, 2,510 households, 1,603 families residing in the city. The population density was 395.6 people per square mile. There were 2,702 housing units at an average density of 172.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 99.90% White, 0.39% African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population. There were 2,510 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.1% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.97. In the city, the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males
Historic districts in the United States
Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, properties, or sites by one of several entities on different levels as or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures and sites within a historic district are divided into two categories and non-contributing. Districts vary in size: some have hundreds of structures, while others have just a few; the U. S. federal government designates historic districts through the United States Department of Interior under the auspices of the National Park Service. Federally designated historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but listing imposes no restrictions on what property owners may do with a designated property. State-level historic districts may follow similar criteria or may require adherence to certain historic rehabilitation standards. Local historic district designation offers, by far, the most legal protection for historic properties because most land use decisions are made at the local level.
Local districts are administered by the county or municipal government. The first U. S. historic district was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931, predating the U. S. federal government designation by more than three decades. Charleston city government designated an "Old and Historic District" by local ordinance and created a board of architectural review to oversee it. New Orleans followed in 1937, establishing the Vieux Carré Commission and authorizing it to act to maintain the historic character of the city's French Quarter. Other localities picked up on the concept, with the city of Philadelphia enacting its historic preservation ordinance in 1955; the regulatory authority of local commissions and historic districts has been upheld as a legitimate use of government police power, most notably in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York; the Supreme Court case validated the protection of historic resources as "an permissible governmental goal." In 1966 the federal government created the National Register of Historic Places, soon after a report from the U.
S. Conference of Mayors had stated Americans suffered from "rootlessness." By the 1980s there were thousands of federally designated historic districts. Some states, such as Arizona, have passed referendums defending property rights that have stopped private property being designated historic without the property owner's consent or compensation for the historic overlay. Historic districts are two types of properties and non-contributing. Broadly defined, a contributing property is any property, structure or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make a historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Different entities governmental, at both the state and national level in the United States, have differing definitions of contributing property but they all retain the same basic characteristics. In general, contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district. In addition to the two types of classification within historic districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are classified into five broad categories.
They are, structure, site and object. All but the eponymous district category are applied to historic districts listed on the National Register. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is governmental acknowledgment of a historic district. However, the Register is "an honorary status with some federal financial incentives." The National Register of Historic Places defines a historic district per U. S. federal law, last revised in 2004. According to the Register definition a historic district is: a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district may comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history. Districts established under U. S. federal guidelines begin the process of designation through a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official recognition by the U.
S. government of cultural resources worthy of preservation. While designation through the National Register does offer a district or property some protections, it is only in cases where the threatening action involves the federal government. If the federal government is not involved the listing on the National Register provides the site, property or district no protections. For example, if company A wants to tear down the hypothetical Smith House and company A is under contract with the state government of Illinois the federal designation would offer no protections. If, company A was under federal contract the Smith House would be protected. A federal designation is little more than recognition by the government that the resource is worthy of preservation. In general, the criteria for acceptance to the National Register are applied but there are considerations for exceptions to the criteria and historic districts have influence on some of those exceptions; the National Register does not list religious structures, moved structures, reconstructed structures, or properties that have achieved significance within the last 50 years.
However, if a property falls into one of those categories and are "integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria" an exception allowing their listing will be made. Historic dis
