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Prepared by the Preservation Massachusetts

Historic District/Historical Commission Committee
Preservation 301, September 2006

SELECTED READINGS

The following titles will provide a good start for a commission’s library and assist in the tasks of
Identification, Evaluation and Preservation of the community’s historic resources:

IDENTIFY and EVALUATE

Architecture

Blumenson, John J. G. Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms,
1600-1945. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1986.

Cummings, Abbott Lowell. The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725. Cambridge:
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979.

Garvin, James L. A Building History of Northern New England. Hanover and London: University
Press of New England. 2001.

Harris, Cyril M. ed. Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture. New York: Dover
Publications Inc. 1977.

Hubka, Thomas C. Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings
of New England. Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1984.

Hugh, Howard. How Old Is This House? A Skeleton Key to Dating and Identifying Three
Centuries of American Houses. Noonday Press, 1989.

Longstreth, Richard. The Buildings of Main Street: A Guide to American Commercial

Architecture. Washington, D.C. Preservation Press for the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, 1987.

McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1986.

Phillips, Steven. Old House Dictionary: An Illustrated Guide to American Domestic Architecture
(1600-1940). John Wiley & Sons, 1992.

Poppeliers, John C., S. Allen Chambers and Nancy B. Schwartz. What Style Is It? Washington:
Preservation Press, 1983.

Reed, Roger and Greer Harwicke. Carriage House to Auto House. Brookline, MA: Brookline
Preservation Commission, 2002.

Rifkind, Carole. A Field Guide to American Architecture. New York: New American Library,
1980.
Visser, Thomas Durant. Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings. Hanover and
London: University Press of New England, 1997.

Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles. Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1969.

Landscape Architecture

Birnbaum, Charles A., editor, Pioneers of American Landscape Design I & II an annotated
bibliography.

Birnbaum, Charles A., ed. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes. Historic Landscape
Initiative, Heritage Preservation Services, Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships.
Washington, DC: National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, 1996.

Copps, David H. Views From the Road: A Community Guide for Assessing Rural Historic
Landscapes. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1995.

Jackson, John Brinkerhoff. A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1996.

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. Reading the Land: Massachusetts

Heritage Landscapes: A Guide to Identification and Protection. Prepared by PAL, 2003.
Note: Massachusetts DEM is now the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)

Tishler, William H. American Landscape Architecture Designers and Places. Washington D.C.:
Preservation Press for National Trust for Historic Preservation. 1989.

PRESERVE

Preservation Law

King, Thomas F. Cultural Resource Laws and Practice: An Introductory Guide. Walnut Creek,
London, New Delhi: Alta Mira Press, 1998.

The following Massachusetts General Laws are important documents to have at your fingertips.
They can be found on the General Laws of Massachusetts website
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl

Chapter 40C: Local Historic Districts

Chapter 40-8D: Local Historical Commissions
Chapter 40-15C: Scenic Roads Act
Chapter 184, Sections 31-33: Preservation and Conservation Restrictions
Chapter 254: Review of state actions affecting State Register properties

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

Section 106: Review of federal actions affecting National Register properties

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Preservation Management and Technology

Building Materials

Jester, Thomas C. ed. Twentieth-Century Building Materials: History and Conservation.

McGraw Hill, 1995.

Maycock, Susan, Sally Zimmerman, et. al. Painting Historic Exteriors: Colors, Application, and
Regulation. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1998.

Moss, Roger W., ed. Paint in America: The Color of Historic Buildings. Washington D.C.:
National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Preservation Press, 1994.

National Trust for Historic Preservation, Pamela Dwight, General Editor. Landmark Yellow
Pages: All the Names, Addresses, Facts and Figures You Need in Preservation. Washington, D.
C.: The Preservation Press, 1993.

Sullivan, Charles, Eileen Woodford, et. al. Maintaining Your Old House in Cambridge.
Cambridge, MA: The Cambridge Historical Commission, 1988.

Guidelines Examples

Design Review Guidelines:

Concord, MA: Historic District Guidelines, 2002.
Nantucket, MA: Building with Nantucket in Mind. 1992
New Bedford: Guidelines for the Bedford Landing Waterfront Historic District, 2001.
Salem, MA: Historic District Guidelines, to be republished in 2004.

Rehabilitation Guidelines:
National Park Service: Respectful Rehabilitation.
National Park Service: Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic
Properties.
Salem: The Salem Handbook, to be revised 2007 by Historic Salem, Inc..

Preservation Planning

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. Preservation Guidelines for

Municipally Owned Historic Burial Grounds and Cemeteries. Prepared by Walker-Kluesing
Design Group, 2000.
Note: Mass DEM is now the Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR)

Morris Marya. Innovative Tools for Historic Preservation. National Trust for Historic
Preservation and American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service Report Number 438, 1992.

Rains, William, ed. With Heritage So Rich. Washington D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1983.

Reps, John William. The Making of Urban America: The History of City Planning in the United
States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.

Preservation Plans:
Medfield: Historic Preservation Plan, prepared by Kathleen Kelly Broomer, 1999.
Salem: Municipal Buildings Preservation Plan, prepared by William Finch.

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Identify – Evaluate – Preserve

Massachusetts Historical Commission Publications

Establishing Local Historic Districts. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Commission,

Revised 2003.

Guidebook for Historic District Commissions in Massachusetts. Boston, MA: Massachusetts

Historical Commission, 1999.

Historic Properties Survey Manual: Guidelines for the Identification of Historic and
Archaeological Properties in Massachusetts. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical
Commission, 1992, Revised 1995.

Historic and Archaeological Resources Series: A Framework for Preservation Decisions. Boston,
MA: Massachusetts Historical Commission, 1982. (Separate volumes for each of the
following regions: Southeast Massachusetts; Cape Cod and the Islands; Central
Massachusetts, and the Connecticut Valley.)

Preservation Planning Manual: Local Historical Commission: Their Role in Local

Government. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Commission, 1992, revisions under
way.

Preservation Through Bylaws and Ordinances. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical

Commission, 2001 et seq..

State Register of Historic Places. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Historical Commission, yearly.

National Park Service Publications

National Register Bulletins:

Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms
Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural Historic Landscapes
Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties
Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties that Have Achieved Significance
Within the Past Fifty Years
Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places.
Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Historical Archaeological Sites.
Historic Residential Suburbs: Guidelines for Evaluation and Documentation for the
National Register of Historic Places
How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation
How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form
How to Evaluate and Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes
How to Improve the Quality of Photographs for National Register Nominations
Researching a Historic Property.

Secretary of the Interior Publications:

Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
Guidelines for Treatment of Cultural Landscapes (End)