National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of national historic significance in the United States. They are usually owned and managed by the federal government. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject, while an NHP is an area that generally extends beyond single properties or buildings to include a mix of historic and later structures and sometimes significant natural features.
As of 2022, there are 63 NHPs and 84 NHSs. Most NHPs and NHSs are managed by the National Park Service (NPS). Some federally designated sites are owned by local authorities or privately owned, but are authorized to request assistance from the NPS as affiliated areas. One property is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Grey Towers National Historic Site.
As of October 15, 1966, all historic areas, including NHPs and NHSs, in the NPS are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). There are also about 90,000 NRHP sites, the large majority of which are neither owned nor managed by the NPS. Of these, about 2,500 have been designated at the highest status as National Historic Landmark (NHL) sites.
History
After its founding in 1916, the National Park Service initially oversaw sites of primarily scenic and natural significance, including national parks and national monuments. Morristown National Historical Park, the 1779–1780 winter encampment of the Continental Army, was established on March 2, 1933, as its largest historical area. The U.S. House committee noted that the new designation was logical for the area and set a new precedent, with comparison to the national military parks, which were then in the War Department. The park's establishment allowed the NPS to have an administrative historical program with professional historians. President Franklin D. Roosevelt reorganized the agency to also oversee memorials and military parks with historic significance later in 1933, substantially broadening the NPS's mandate.
In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act (), which established that "it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States." This expanded upon the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the President the ability to order "the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest." The Historic Sites Act directed the National Park Service to survey historic sites which may be of national significance, as well as restore and acquire properties. The Historic American Buildings Survey began to document the country's architectural heritage and identify buildings for potential protection. Initially the Secretary of the Interior could designate national historic sites, though this did not include funding for acquition or administration without congressional action. Salem Maritime National Historic Site was the first place to be preserved as a national historic site, created by secretarial order on March 17, 1938. It had followed Secretary Harold L. Ickes's designation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 1935; many historic sites in the National Park System continue to be protected under different designation types. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site was designated later that year, another example of industrial heritage.