Kentucky Review Board Recommends 14 Sites For Listing In The National Register Of Historic Places

Nominations of 14 sites to the National Register of Historical Places, and a research project documenting a new statewide context to evaluate future submissions, were recommended for approval by the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board during a meeting Monday in Frankfort. Approved submissions will now be forwarded to the National Park Service (NPS) for final determination of eligibility, a process that generally takes 60 to 90 days.

The review board is charged with evaluating National Register nominations from Kentucky prior to their submission to NPS.  The Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office (KHC) administers the National Register program in Kentucky and provides administrative support to the board.

Nominations approved Monday are Columbia Commercial District; the Bold House, Foster; Doyle Country Club, near Dayton; the V.W. Bush Warehouse/Sphar Building, Winchester; Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, Haury Motor Company Garage and Whiskey Row Historic District (additional documentation), Metro Louisville; Waveland, near Nicholasville; the Kentucky Hydroelectric Project, Grand Rivers; Paducah City Hall; Rowan County Courthouse; the Scearce-Roush House, Simpsonville; the J.D. Dodson House, Bowling Green; and Old Taylor Historic District, Millville. (See photos, l-r, above.)

Additionally, a research project establishing a historic context for evaluating future National Register submissions within the “Kentucky LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative” will be submitted for approval.

Listings that have been added to the National Register from Kentucky since the last review board meeting in May are Harlan Hubbard Studio, Fort Thomas; Edgewood, Fayette County; New Castle Historic District; Shawnee Steam Plant, Paducah; Johnson’s Landing House & Farm, and Woodland, Oldham County; Elks Athletic Club (additional documentation), Wood F. Afton Hall at Simmons University, E.L. Hughes Company Building and Seventh Street School, Metro Louisville; the Jonathan Bush House, and Jonathan Bush Mill, along Lower Howard’s Creek near Winchester; and a Multiple Property Nomination for “Kentucky State Tuberculosis Hospitals, 1946-1950” along with individual nominations for the London and Madisonville tuberculosis hospitals.

The National Register is the nation’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. Kentucky has the fourth-highest number of listings among states, with more than 3,400. Listing can be applied to buildings, objects, structures, districts and archaeological sites, and proposed sites must be significant in architecture, engineering, American history or culture.

Owners of National Register properties may qualify for state and/or federal tax credits for rehabilitation of these properties to standards set forth by the Secretary of the Interior, as certified by the Kentucky Heritage Council, or for making a charitable contribution of a preservation easement. National Register status does not affect property ownership rights, but does provide a measure of protection against adverse impacts from federally funded projects.

A meeting agenda and detailed nominations with high-resolution photos of all the proposed and recently listed sites are available at www.heritage.ky.gov/natreg/. The next review board meeting will take place in May 2017.