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Overview

Published April 2025 on Publications of the National Register of Historic Places (NPS)

For preparers of New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places nominations and fellow SHPO staff.

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Excerpt from Introduction

[/vc_column_text][vc_message color=”warning” message_box_color=”warning” icon_fontawesome=”” css=””]This publication compliments the guidance provided in National Register Bulletins by providing examples on specific topics.[/vc_message][vc_row_inner el_class=”hpo-callout-text”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”” el_class=”hpo-intro-paragraph”]Surface parking lots for motorized vehicles have been part of the landscape for more than a hundred years. From single properties to historic districts, surface parking lots are ubiquitous. Large surface parking lots may be purpose-constructed according to building and zoning codes; others may be repurposed former building lots. As such, surface parking lots may influence the historicity and architectural quality of both single properties and historic districts.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]National Register of Historic Places nominations often ignore surface parking lots in the resource count, narrative description, and evaluation of significance and integrity. In some cases, surface parking lots are dismissed as “vacant lots,” even if they exhibit substantial construction in terms of paving, curbing, retaining walls, and other infrastructure or site furnishings. But a parking lot is not a vacant lot, something defined by Merriam-Webster as “a piece of land that is not being used.” A surface parking lot is indeed a use and it may have an impact on the character and streetscape of a historic district. Additionally, these resources are increasingly coming of age for consideration as 50-year-old-plus resources.

This guidance is not intended to be an argument for the preservation of acres of asphalt, but because the National Register was designed to be and is administered as a planning tool (36 C.F.R § 60.2(a)), considering surface parking lots in a National Register nomination is a best practice. This issue of the Best Practices Review addresses classifying, describing, and evaluating surface parking lots in National Register nominations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1758815062001{margin-bottom: 32px !important;}”][info-box-shortcode icon=”fa fa-solid fa-rectangle-list” title=”Table of Contents”]

• Introduction
• Identify the Resource Type
• Evaluate and Document the Resource
• Examples
  • Single Property Commercial Building: Urbana-Lincoln Hotel/Lincoln Square Mall (Illinois; NRIS # 06000778)
  • Residential Historic District: Lake Anne Center Historic District (Virginia; NRIS # 100001041)
  • Residential Historic District: East Plaza Apartments Historic District (Missouri; NRIS # 100011650)

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