SECTION 2: IDENTIFYING HISTORIC PROPERTIES (SURVEY AND INVENTORY)
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dentifying historic properties is the first step in preservation planning. This is achieved through a survey that creates an inventory of your community’s historic resources. The Historic Resources Survey at HPD collects and records information about existing historic properties on a county or community-wide basis. This information includes an architectural description of the structure, the approximate date of construction, history, setting and the resource location. Other records produced in the survey are photographs of these resources, topographical maps keyed to the structures, and reports analyzing the results of the survey as well as evaluating the significance of surveyed properties. Surveys can be used in your community in the following ways: • To support local designations of buildings and districts; • To identify individual buildings and districts for possible listing in the National and Georgia Registers of Historic Places (NRHP, GRHP); • To assist preservation efforts of Georgia’s Certified Local Governments (CLGs); • To expedite environmental review by governmental agencies; • To provide information for land-use planning; • To promote the research of Georgia history and architecture; and • To increase the awareness of, and interest in, a community’s historic properties National guidelines for completing local surveys have been established by the National Park Service (NPS). For more information please see Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning at www.cr.nps.gov. At the outset check with HPD’s National Register and Survey program staff to see whether a historic resource survey has already been completed for your city or county. If a survey has not been completed or if it is out of date, you should begin making plans for a new or updated survey. If you plan to hire a consultant to conduct the survey, HPD maintains a consultants directory. The directory can be accessed