History Matters

helps clients nominate historic resources to the National Register of Historic Places by linking historic sites to larger historical trends on a local, regional, and national scale.
Projects include:

American Can Company, Miller Factory, Baltimore, Maryland
Clarksville Historic District, Clarksville, Virginia
Downtown Front Royal Historic District, Front Royal, Virginia
Fairview Cemetery, Culpeper, VA
Jamestown Exposition Historic District, National Historic Landmark Nomination, Norfolk, Virginia
Laburnum Park Historic District, Richmond, Virginia
Navy Family Housing on Oahu, 1939-1942, Multiple Property Documentation Form
Olympia Apartments, Washington, DC
Purcellville Historic District, Purcellville, Virginia
Tower House, Fairfax County, Virginia
Washington Avenue Historic District, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Washington Mills, Mayodan, North Carolina
West Broad Street Historic District, Richmond, Virginia

Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and Evaluations

History Matters guides clients through the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program, as well as associated state incentive programs. We evaluate the feasibility of tax credits and work with owners and architects to apply the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

American Can Company, Miller Factory, Baltimore, Maryland
Blaine Mansion, Washington, DC
Kennebec Arsenal, Augusta, ME
Langston School, Washington, DC
Meadow Lawn, Lincoln, Virginia
Olympia Apartments, Washington, DC
Shepherd House, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Tower House, Fairfax County, Virginia
Union Station, Winston-Salem, NC
War Memorial Stadium, Greensboro, NC
Washington Mills, Mayodan, North Carolina
White Furniture Company, Mebane, NC

Historic Resource Documentation

History Matters’ staff designs, organizes, and conducts historic site surveys in both urban and rural areas. Our documentation includes photography, maps, measured drawings, and architectural evaluations.

African-American Historic Architectural Resources in Loudoun County, Virginia
Historic Roads Survey, St. Mary’s County, Maryland
Historic Sites Survey, Queen Anne’s County, Maryland
Purcellville Historic District, Purcellville, Virginia
Washington Avenue Historic District, Fredericksburg, Virginia
West Broad Street Commercial Historic District, Richmond, Virginia

Historic Landscapes

To help government agencies evaluate the significance of historic landscapes and plan for future development, History Matters works with landscape architects to prepare detailed cultural landscape histories. Our reports combine a comprehensive physical history of the landscape with thorough documentation of its historic context.

Cedar Run Dam 6 Project Area, Cultural Landscape Inventory, Auburn, Virginia
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Cultural Landscape Report, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
Cultural Landscape Reports, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
St. Mary's County Historic Roads Survey, St. Mary’s County, Maryland

Historic Preservation Compliance

By preparing Determinations of Eligibility (DOE) for architectural resources and by providing guidance to their owners, History Matters helps clients comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and with local preservation ordinances.

Columbia Pike Preliminary Environmental Inventory Report, Arlington, Virginia
Main Street and Judicial Drive Phase II Architectural Evaluation, City of Fairfax, VA
Wedderburn Phase II Architectural Evaluation, Fairfax County, Virginia

Historical Research and Writing

History Matters’ building and site histories are thoroughly researched and illuminate the place of properties within the broad context of American history. Our approach analyzes and explains the people, organizations, and events that have shaped each site and subject.

Archival research, Historic Structures Report, Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
Civil War-Era History of Archeological Sites at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia
Developmental History and Collections Guide for the Senate Reception Room, U.S. Capitol, Office of the Senate Curator
History of Hershey’s Mill, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Orrick Chapel History, Stephens City, Virginia
Potomac Yard Contextual Study, Alexandria, VA
World War Two-Era History of Women Workers in Newport, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities

Heritage Publications and Educational Materials

Our heritage publications and educational materials make complex cultural histories accessible. The brochures, collection guides, and books that we develop help the public understand the historical development and significance of landscapes, buildings, and objects.

Exploring Leesburg: A Guide to History and Architecture, Town of Leesburg, Virginia
Two Mecklenberg Towns: Boydton and Clarksville, Virginia Department of Historic Resources (2001)

Preservation Planning

Working with clients, architects, and planners, History Matters provides comprehensive, research-based preservation planning. Our services include place-based context research, historic resource documentation and assessment, heritage resource consulting, and feasibility evaluations for potential historic preservation tax credit projects.