Nationally distinctive landscapes are places that contain important regional and national stories that, together with their associated natural and/or cultural resources, enable the American people to understand, preserve and celebrate key components of the multi-faceted character of the Nation’s heritage. The landscapes are often places that represent and contain identifiable assemblages of resources with integrity associated with one or more of the following:

1. important historical periods of the Nation and its people;

2. major events, persons and groups that contributed substantively to the Nation’s history, customs, beliefs, and folklore;

3. distinctive cultures and cultural mores;

4. major industries and technological, business and manufacturing innovations/practices, labor movements and labor advancements that contributed substantively to the economic growth of the Nation and the well-being of its people;

5. transportation innovations and routes that played central roles in important military actions, settlement, migration, and commerce;

6. social movements that substantively influenced past and present day society;

7. American art, crafts, literature and music;

8. distinctive architecture and architectural periods and movements;

9. major scientific discoveries and advancements; and

10. other comparable representations that together with their associated resources substantively contributed to the Nation’s heritage.