Research and Designation
Architecturally or historically, significant sites may be designated on Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation. Historic designation qualifies properties for certain protections under the Historic Preservation Ordinance and may make property owners eligible for various financial incentives for qualified rehabilitation and/or maintenance projects. In 1976, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) identified potential historic resources which are identified on the Locational Atlas & Index of Historic Sites. Determine whether your property is designated by the Locational Atlas .
Sites listed on the Atlas are protected from demolition or “substantial alteration” by order of Chapter 24. If your property is listed as an individual historic site on the Montgomery County Master Plan for Historic Preservation or if you live within a recognized historic district within Montgomery County, you may be eligible to purchase a Montgomery County historic property plaque for your home.
You may nominate a building, structure or historic district for historic designation. If a resource isn’t already identified on the Locational Atlas, a citizen or group may nominate it for a historic designation. The process begins with the submission of a research form. After submission of the form, the reviewing process involving the Historic Preservation Committee, the Planning Board, County Council and Executive begins.
Evaluation Process of Designating a Historic Site
- The Historic Preservation Commission initiates the evaluation of Atlas resources by having Historic Preservation planning staff prepare research and background materials on each resource.
- The HPC then holds a public hearing to review each resource and evaluate its eligibility for designation. The HPC then transmits their recommendations to the Planning Board for consideration of the Public Hearing Draft Amendment to the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
- The Planning Board holds a public hearing on the Public Hearing Draft. After the hearing, the Board conducts a work-session to review the HPC recommendations, the public hearing testimony, and the historic preservation planning staff’s recommendations. The Board then formulates its own recommendations, known as the Planning Board Draft Amendment.
- The Planning Board Draft is transmitted to the County Council for review. In addition, the County Executive has the opportunity to provide comments on the amendment. The County Council holds a public hearing and work-sessions and approves, or disapproves, or amends the Planning Board Draft. The Planning Board Draft is then forwarded to M-NCPPC to become an Approved and Adopted Amendment to the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
- The steps in this evaluative process are measured, careful, open and transparent. Citizens have numerous opportunities to make their views known to the reviewing bodies. The Historic Preservation Commission, Planning Board, and County Council, each in turn, publically evaluate whether or not they believe a resource meets the criteria for designation, and at each step of the process property owners and interested parties have an opportunity to provide comments in writing or in person.
Historic Montogmery County Landmarks include:
- Archeological sites and mill ruins along stream valleys
- Farms, banks and meeting houses, associated with the Quaker heritage
- Lock houses, aqueducts, mines and quarries, boarding the Potomac River and the Chesapeake &Ohio (C&O) canal
- Rivers fords and encampment sites of the Civil War
- Early African-American communities
- Early suburbs developed along the route of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) railroad
- Small-scale commercial blocks and gas stations from the early automobile era
- Major government complexes such as the Bethesda Naval Hospital and the National Institute of Health
- Postwar housing that shaped suburban development
Montgomery County Planning Department