Anyone can nominate a historic property to the National Register of Historic Places. A successful nomination process can take, on average, over a year to complete. The North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (NDSHPO) also maintains a list of professional consultants who can be hired to prepare nominations.
1. Contact us
If you are considering nominating a property for listing, please first fill out the property data sheet. This form allows SHPO staff to give you a quick assessment of your property's potential for listing. If the property appears to be eligible, you will also receive advice on how to proceed with the nomination process. Click here for general information on eligibility.
2. Conduct research and fill out the form
A National Register nomination essentially consists of a nine-page form plus two essays, photographs, drawings, and maps.
The official nomination forms and instructions/bulletins can be downloaded here. North Dakota does require some additional information and for a copy of the modified form that includes that information, contact the National Register Coordinator at 701-328-2089. If possible, NDSHPO will also provide you with a completed nomination for a similar property type that can serve as a model for your nomination.
The bulletin How to Complete the National Register Registration Form is your guide to completing the form. Updates to policies regarding maps and digital files made since the publication of this guide can be found here under Technical Assistance.
There are many sources for historical information about your property, as well as the information needed to establish a context for its history. The bulletin Researching an Historic Property may offer some assistance. Please keep track of your sources, as a bibliography is a required part of the nomination and it provides a valuable resource to future researchers interested in your property.
3. Prepare photographs
The National Park Service requires photographs of the property being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places that show what the property looks like at the time of its nomination. There are minimum requirements for the photos and the expanded photo policy can be found here. NDSHPO highly recommends using the high quality settings on your digital camera. Photographs taken by cell phone are acceptable so long as the files meet the size requirements.
Photographs for display at the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Review Board meeting are also required. These can be part of a formatted presentation, such as in Powerpoint, or a slideshow of the image files. It is expected that the authors of nominations will make a short, 5-10 minute presentation to the Board at the review meeting and be available to answer questions. Special arrangements for the presentations can be made if needed.
4. Submit nomination to the North Dakota SHPO
Deadlines for the submission of nomination materials correspond to the meetings held each year by the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Review Board. Deadlines are as follows:
- November 21 for the January meeting of the next year
- February 21 for the April meeting
- June 21 for the August meeting
- August 21 for the October meeting
Nominations -- either hard copy or electronically in Word or Adobe- must be received by the submission deadline to be scheduled for review. Materials received by or on the deadline will be considered final draft submissions. A nomination may not be scheduled for review until it is considered complete and meets the National Register documentation standards. NDSHPO staff may request revisions to the nomination document before placing a nomination on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. Preparers are advised that the North Dakota Historic Preservation Review Board may request additional revisions after it has heard the nomination. Once approved by the Review Board, the nomination will be signed and sent forward to the Keeper of the National Register.
5. Wait to receive notification
NDSHPO is notified of the decision regarding listing by the Keeper of the National Register approximately 60 days after the nomination is received in Washington, D.C. NDSHPO then notifies property owners, authors, and interested parties, and sends a press release to the regional and local newspapers.
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