HO-150
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT 
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE 
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47907
Surveying Our Historic Heritage
Troy Bunch, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
Horticulture Department

Americans are increasingly becoming concerned with identifying significant historic and cultural resources in their urban areas. Until recently, however, many of these resources had been lost because of common economic development attitudes. The construction of highways, building complexes, shopping centers, and other urban developments destroyed many of these resources, making it difficult to save those with preservation potential. Lack of preservation can also be associated with the public’s lack of awareness, involvement, and concern for the preservation of historic resources.
The trend is changing, however. Recently, questions have been raised regarding unrestrained, piecemeal urbanization that has changed communities in an unsatisfactory manner. Citizens are concerned with the traditional processes of government and the market place which have given questionable community development guidance in the past. A new interest in the quality of the environment is being shown by more and more people, and interest in historic preservation is rising.
This publication lists and explains human, organizational, and material resources which can provide information regarding historic preservation.

Cultural resource survey
A survey is a comprehensive gathering of detailed information on the historical and physical character of a community or region through fieldwork and historical research. Information obtained from historic resource surveys can be used positively to define policies and techniques that preserve irreplaceable resources and also allow for continued economic growth and physical development. An official inventory of historic resources can define the historic character of a community or a particular area and can provide the basis for making sound judgments in community planning.
A survey of a community’s historic and cultural resources has several purposes-it identifies and directs attention to the significant sites and structures, and it identifies preservation tools, funding sources, and implementation techniques. The informative publication, Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning," outlines the cultural resource survey and how it can be used in your community and is available from the National Register of Historic Places, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20006.
The survey also forms the basis for the nomination of individual buildings and neighborhoods to a local or state register and to the National Register of Historic Places. In Indiana, the State Historic Preservation Officer is responsible for administering the National Register program. He can provide further information regarding procedures, funding, and preservation techniques. Contact him by writing the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and State Historic Preservation Officer, State Office Building, Indianapolis, IN 46204.