Preserving America's Heritage: An Overview of the National Historic Preservation Act and Historic Preservation

摘要

In the 1950s, a frenzy of modernization and a growing post-World War II population and economy were leading to the wholesale destruction of historic places in the United States. Places like Savannah, Georgia, with a unique city plan dating to the 18th century containing hundreds of historic structures, were at risk from efforts to revitalize older communities or a disregard for how new construction would affect existing places. Modernization threatened to destroy what was best and most worth keeping of the past. The federal governments sponsorship of highway projects through city centers and removal of decaying urban areas in the name of progress did not adequately consider the full spectrum of local concerns and interests. While the United States has long enjoyed a preservation ethic (for example, creating Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park, in the 1870s), cities nationwide began realizing in the 1960s that perhaps more was being sacrificed to progress than their communities and the nation could afford to lose.