A historic marker can identify an important place even when nothing associated with its defining event survives. A preservation designation generally asks a different question: how much of the historic place remains? The National Park Service distinguishes between commemorative programs and designation programs, two approaches that can look similar to a visitor but serve different purposes. Commemorative programs, including historic marker programs, recognize where an event occurred. Most do not require historic integrity, according to the agency. Recognition can therefore remain meaningful even when no materials connected with the event survive above or below ground. Designation programs are intended to encourage preservation. Their requirements vary, but the Park Service describes qualifying places as relatively unchanged from the period associated with their historical importance. City and state landmark programs, the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmarks Program belong to this category. The distinction also explains why local recognition and federal recognition should be read carefully. Municipalities often maintain their own historic registers and designate landmarks under local laws or ordinances. Their requirements differ from those of the National Historic Landmarks Program. Behind these programs is a network of preservation offices. State Historic Preservation Offices survey, evaluate and nominate significant buildings, sites, structures, districts and objects. They can also help people find information about financial incentives, state grants and technical assistance. Tribal Historic Preservation Offices perform comparable work on tribal lands, where federally recognized tribes often have direct jurisdiction. Local communities can also participate through the Certified Local Government Program, a partnership involving local, state and national government. For anyone encountering a plaque, marker or landmark listing, the useful first step is to identify the program behind it. A commemoration recognizes a historical connection; a designation concerns the surviving historic place and the particular standards under which it was recognized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A marker can preserve a memory after the physical evidence has disappeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}