In 2016, communities from 23 states across the country were designated as Certified Local Governments, including Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Commission


January 31, 2017 - WASHINGTON – The National Park Service designated 38 communities from across the United States as Certified Local Governments (CLG) in 2016. There are now 1,966 communities that participate in the program, which provides local governments access to historic preservation guidance and grants. The current number of CLGs is a significant milestone as it also recognizes the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that created the CLG program.

The CLG designation makes communities official partners in the federal historic preservation program, which engages local, state, and federal governments to promote historic preservation at the grassroots level. These communities gain access to expert technical historic preservation advice from the National Park Service and their respective State Historic Preservation Offices, as well as Historic Preservation Fund grants exclusively for CLGs.

“We are looking forward to working with these 38 newly certified communities to encourage historic preservation on a grassroots level,” said Acting National Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds. “The Certified Local Government program not only preserves social, cultural, and ethnic heritage of communities across the country, but also promotes local economic growth and job creation related to tourism and historic preservation.”

Administered by the National Park Service through the states, the CLG program helps communities save their irreplaceable historic character through the identification, evaluation, and protection of historic properties. In order to become certified, a local government must meet several requirements, chief of which is a commitment to enforcing local and state historic preservation laws and establishing a qualified historic preservation commission. This local commitment is key to America’s ability to preserve, protect, and increase awareness of our unique cultural heritage found in the built environment across the country.

The following communities were designated Certified Local Government partners in 2016:

Dumas, Arkansas Redlands, California Buena Vista, Colorado Florence, Colorado Starkville, Colorado Walsenburg, Colorado Woodland Park, Colorado New Castle, Delaware Broward County, Florida Cedar Key, Florida Keystone Heights, Florida Wakulla County, Florida Euharlee, Georgia McDonough, Georgia Villa Rica, Georgia Payette, Idaho Washington, Illinois Carmel, Indiana Haysville, Kansas

Easton, Massachusetts Framingham, Massachusetts Gloucester, Massachusetts Gaylord, Minnesota Booneville, Mississippi Sedalia, Missouri Wentzville, Missouri Seneca Falls, New York White Plains, New York Sandusky, Ohio Amity, Oregon Coos Bay, Oregon Houston, Texas Hanksville, Utah Virgin, Utah Virginia Beach, Virginia Lynden, Washington Bangor, Wisconsin Gillette, Wyoming

For additional information on the Certified Local Government program, visit www.nps.gov/clg.
Source: NPS