The Role of Rural Historic Districts in
Preserving Community Assets
Listing an area as a rural historic
district on the National Register of Historic Places and
the Virginia Landmarks Register is an honorary designation that
has real benefits in bringing communities together to protect
their unique cultural, historic and natural assets. It
provides limited protection from certain federal actions for
buildings or landscapes in the district, as well as the
possibility of tax credits for major building renovations.
Although designation requires research and documentation
of the area and structures, which is time consuming and may be
costly if an architectural historian is employed, the end
result is broader community appreciation for the area.
of place will be preserved over time as
change occurs.
The PEC has worked for 32 years in
Virginia’s northern Piedmont, from Albemarle to Loudoun,
to protect and preserve its historic and scenic beauty, much of
it an agricultural landscape little changed from 200 years ago.
Landowners have placed nearly 190,000 acres under permanent
conservation easements in the nine county region that PEC
serves, most of it by donation to the state’s Virginia
Outdoors Foundation. Nevertheless, development pressures have
increased in the region, with large residential and commercial
projects obliterating significant segments of this historic
landscape. It is therefore increasingly important to raise the
awareness of residents and decision makers to the rich and
irreplaceable historic, cultural and natural resources in their
communities so that they will take actions to preserve them.
In the PEC region, there are at least
seven state designated rural historic districts. The Goose
Creek District in western Loudoun County was the district of
its kind. It was designated in 1977, followed by Catoctin
in 1988. The contiguous Madison-Barbour District in
Orange County (1987) and the Southwest Mountains District in
Albemarle County (1991) are the two largest in the
Commonwealth. Jointly comprising over 62,000 acres, they
encompass the landscape from James Madison’s Montpelier
to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. As an
illustration of one positive effect of historic districts, more
than 10,000 acres, or one third, of the Madison-Barbour
District are now protected by permanent conservation easements.
Approximately one third of the Southwest Mountains
District is similarly protected.
Clarke County has two rural historic
districts: the Greenway District was designated in 1993,
followed by the Long Marsh Run District in 1996. The most
recent addition is the Crooked Run Valley District in Fauquier
County, designated in March 2004. Two more proposed
historic istricts are in progress in Albemarle: the
Covesville
Ms. deGive is the director of planning
services for the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Mr. Miller is the president of the
Piedmont Environmental Council.
Historic districts can stimulate
communities to think about their future and the long term
protection of their resources. Over the years, the Piedmont
Environmental Council (PEC) has worked with communities in
creating several rural historic districts, providing services
ranging from on the ground documentation to technical support
to public advocacy. This article will describe a case
study of the creation of one Rural Historic District, and give
several examples of locally recognized districts that embody
creative initiatives. They all have the same goal: to
educate residents, decision makers and visitors to the special
qualities of a community so that its sense
