Answer:
In simple terms, historic preservation means safeguarding the existence and appearance of historic elements of the community.
TYPES OF HISTORIC ELEMENTS
Structures
Houses, commercial and industrial buildings, barns, bridges, monuments – any man-made structure that has some historical value or significance.
Historical value resides in the historical element itself. It may be valuable as an example of a style of architecture or an industrial process that’s no longer used, or simply for its age. Many houses that were unremarkable when they were built, for instance, have gained historical value because they’ve lasted, and are among the few left from their time. A log house in Randolph County, AR, built in the 1820s, is important historically because it’s believed to be the oldest house in the state – one of the few that has survived intact from the early days of white settlement.
Historical significance usually has to do with a link between the element and a particular historical event or series of events. Many historically significant buildings, like the Obecni Dum, are architecturally important as well, but they don’t have to be. The 18th Century stone farmhouse at Valley Forge, PA that was George Washington’s headquarters through part of the American Revolutionary War is no different from hundreds of other surviving houses of the period in that area, but is important specifically because it was Washington’s headquarters.
