The National Register of Historic Places is a federal program administered largely by state historic preservation offices. It is the nation’s official record of significant historical and cultural properties. Included in the National Register are individual examples of and concentrations of buildings, such as grand houses, institutional and commercial properties, as well as modest, vernacular dwellings.

Sites, such as landscape features and archaeological sites. Structures, such as engineering structures, recreational structures, and industrial structures. Objects, such as public art, transportation vehicles, and infrastructural features. For more information go to www.thc.state.tx.us.

Other preservations that may be of interest are:

www.nthp.org (The National Trust for Historic Preservation)
www.preserve.org (Preserve and Protect)
www.traditional-building.com (Traditional Building Magazine)

National Register Criteria

To be eligible for listing in the National Register, a property or historic district must be at least 50 years old, retain its integrity, and meet one of the four following criteria:

• Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
• Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
• Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or represent the work of a master, or possess high artistic values, or represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.
• Yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Exceptions)

Ordinarily, cemeteries, birthplaces, or graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions or used for religious purposes, structures that have been moved from their original locations, reconstructed historic buildings, properties primarily commemorative in nature, and properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years shall not be considered eligible for the National Register. However, such criteria in properties will qualify if they are integral parts of districts or conform to the following:

• A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic importance.
• A building or structure removed from its original location but which is significant Primarily for architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event.
• The birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no other appropriate site or building directly associated with his or her productive life.
• A cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events.
• A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived.
• A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own historical significance.
• A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.
• Properties in the National Register can be listed at a national, state or local level of significance and can be honored individually or as part of a historic district.

The vast majority of properties included in the National Register are listed at a local level of significance. In addition, most are honored for their architectural merits (National Register Criterion C), although others are considered noteworthy for their historical associations (National Register Criteria A and B), or for their potential to enhance our understanding of the past (National Register Criterion D).

For an individual property or a historic district to be listed in the National Register, a nomination form must be prepared and submitted to the Texas Historical Commission where staff members will make a recommendation as to the potential or likelihood for listing in the National Register. Staff members typically request additional information or documentation, especially if the property or historic district appears to be a strong candidate for such designation. When the form meets their standards and complies with federal requirements, the nomination is placed on the agenda for the State Board of Review and a copy of the submission is presented to each of its members. The State Board of Review, which meets three or four times a year and whose members are scholars or professionals in fields related to historic preservation, will decide if the property meets National Register criteria. If approved, the nomination form is finalized by the staff of the Texas Historical Commission and then it is submitted to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. for final approval. Because the documentation required for nominating individual properties and historic districts is a complex task, the National Park Service devised a method that allows a large number of properties and/or districts to be nominated to the National Register as a single document. The “Multiple-Property Nomination” includes three main components: the Historic Context narrative, Property Types narratives, and National Register forms for each property and historic district. Typically, a Multiple-Property Nomination is prepared for a city and describes the important historical developments and themes (Historic Contexts) for that community. The nomination also identifies and discusses the major Property Types, such as Domestic Buildings or Commercial Buildings, found in the community and notes unique characteristics of each. Both the Historic Context and the Property Types sections provide a framework by which individual properties and historic districts can be compared and evaluated. Separate National Register forms are then prepared for individual properties and historic districts that appear to meet National Register Criteria. Documentation for these submissions is significantly less than if they were prepared independently of the Multiple-Property Nomination because the Historic Context and Property Type discussions enable the Texas Historical Commission, the State Board of Review and the National Park Service to better understand the relative significance of the properties. The Multiple-Property Nomination is submitted to the Texas Historical Commission staff for evaluation and then to the State Board of Review for approval. The National Park Service then reviews the document for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. An important provision of the Multiple-Property Nomination is that it lays the groundwork for expeditious nomination of additional properties within the area defined by the original nomination.

Properties may become eligible through restoration, newly discovered historical data, or when the property becomes 50 years old. For a property to be added, a National Register form still must be completed, reviewed and approved by the Texas Historical Commission, the State Board of Review and the National Park Service.

Below is a list of properties in boundaries of Houston Heights listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, the town of “Houston Heights” in 1983 was designated a Multiple Resource Area. This designation is for towns of less than 50,000 in population with individual listings or historic district listed on the National Register. Since Houston Heights was a municipality from 1896-1918, therefore it qualified for this historic status.

933 Allston
1026 Allston
1115/1117 Allston
1343 Allston
1443 Allston
1509 Allston
1515 Allston

721 Arlington
921 Arlington
925 Arlington
939 Arlington
1025 Arlington
2023 Arlington
2030 Arlington

1327 Ashland
1541 Ashland
1601 Ashland
1801 Ashland (demolished)

711 Columbia
844 Columbia
1037 Columbia
1651 Columbia

736 Cortlandt
844 Cortlandt
943 ½ Cortlandt
1150 Cortlandt
1206 Cortlandt
1304 Cortlandt
1401 Cortlandt
1448 Cortlandt
1517 Cortlandt

430 Harvard (demolished)
510 Harvard
530 Harvard
532 Harvard
703 Harvard
725 Harvard
1046 Harvard
1122 Harvard
1123 Harvard
1210 Harvard
1217 Harvard
1220 Harvard
1222 Harvard
1238 Harvard
1421 Harvard
1445 Harvard
1602 Harvard
1611 Harvard
1640 Harvard
1802 Harvard
1846 Harvard
2009 Harvard

Heights Boulevard from White Oak to East 19th Street
407 Heights Blvd
639 Heights Blvd
828 Heights Blvd
917 Heights Blvd
921 Heights Blvd
1011 Heights Blvd
1015 Heights Blvd
1101 Heights Blvd
1102 Heights Blvd
1111 Heights Blvd
1302 Heights Blvd
1418 Heights Blvd
1435 Heights Blvd
1437 Heights Blvd
1448 Heights Blvd
1515 Heights Blvd
1536 Heights Blvd
1605 Heights Blvd
1703 Heights Blvd
1801 Heights Blvd

2201 Lawrence

1230 Oxford
1400 Oxford (demolished)

740 Rutland
835 Rutland
1030 Rutland
1227 Rutland
1236 Rutland
1237 Rutland
2035 Rutland
2402 Rutland

1537 Tulane
1541 Tulane

3620 Washington

1421/23 Waverly
1437 Waverly

803 Yale
1233 Yale
1245 Yale

112 W. 4th
122 E. 5th
217 E. 5th
301 E. 5th
402 E. 9th (demolished)
602 E. 9th (demolished)
401 W. 9th
201 E. 10th
219 W. 11th
402 E. 11th
221 E. 12th
121 E. 12th
107 W. 12th @ Yale
301 E. 14th
301-303 E. 15th (demolished)
201 W. 15th
121 E. 16th
224 W. 17th (demolished)
315 W. 17th
323 W. 17th
718 W. 17th
245 W. 18th
505 W. 18th
119 E. 20th
450 W. 20th at Nicholson
433 W. 24th
444 W. 24th
612 W. 26th

Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou