Bulletins and Brochures

Our Bulletins and Brochures are all available in electronic versions, accessible by clicking on a highlighted title below. [PRINTING TIP: Using the Internet Explorer browser, go to any Bulletin's Table of Contents/Home Page. Select File and then Print. When the Print window appears, go to the "Options" tab and check the small box at the bottom left of the window to "Print all linked documents" before clicking "OK."] Some publications are available ONLY in electronic versions through this website--these are indicated by an asterix (*). The parenthetical numbers are in reference to a former numbering system which is being phased out.

If you prefer a hard copy of those publications we have in print, please use our ORDER FORM.

National Register Brochures

• National Register of Historic Places (in English), (en Español)
• My Property is Important to America's Heritage, What Does that Mean: Answers to Questions for Owners of Historic Properties
• 25 Simple Things you can do to Promote the Public Benefits of Archaeology

National Register Bulletins

The Basics

• How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation also available as a pdf file (13MB) (#15)
• How to Complete the National Register Registration Form also available as a pdf file (22 MB) (#16A)
• How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form (#16B) also available as a pdf file (7 MB) (A video on the multiple property approach is also available.)
• How to Prepare National Historic Landmark Nominations also available as a pdf file (80 MB)
• Researching a Historic Property also available as a pdf file(5MB) (#39)

Property Types

• Historic Residential Suburbs: Guidelines for Evaluation and Documentation for the National Register of Historic Places --also available as a pdf file (147 MB)
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Archeological Properties--also available as a pdf file (51 MB) #36
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Historic Aviation Properties
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Aids to Navigation --#34
• Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating, and Registering America's Historic Battlefields --#40
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places --also available as a pdf file (31 MB) #41
• How to Evaluate and Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes also available as a pdf file (13 MB)--#18
• Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating and Registering Historic Mining Properties also available as a pdf file 33 MB)--#42
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties That Have Achieved Significance Within the Past Fifty Years also available as a pdf file (20 MB) --#22
• How to Apply National Register Criteria to Post Offices --#13
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural Historic Landscapes also available as a pdf file (41 MB) --#30
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Properties Associated with Significant Persons also available as a pdf file(17 MB) --#32
• Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties also available as a pdf file (27 MB) -- #38 (A dvd on evaluating traditional cultural properties is also available)
• Nominating Historic Vessels and Shipwrecks to the National Register of Historic Places also available as a pdf file (14 MB) --#20
  
  

Technical Assistance for Preparing Nominations

• Defining Boundaries for National Register Properties (with Appendix, Definition of National Register Boundaries for Archeological Properties) --combines the former bulletins of #12 and #21 also available as a pdf file (45 MB)
• How to Improve the Quality of Photographs for National Register Nominations also available as a pdf file (39 MB) --#23
  • Photograph Policy Expansion 2005
  • Photograph Policy Update 2008
• Telling the Stories: Planning Effective Interpretive Programs for Places Listed in the National Register of Historic Places also available as a pdf file (28 MB)
• Using the UTM Grid System to Record Historic Sites --#28*
• Reviewing National Register Nominations --#19 *

General Guidance

• Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning also available as a pdf file (28MB) --#24
• Code of Federal Regulations: 36 CFR Part 60 National Register of Historic Places
• Examples of Documentation: National Register Casebook --#35*

The following National Register Bulletins are no longer available:

• Contribution of Moved Buildings to Historic Districts
• Tax Treatments for Moved Buildings
• Use of Nomination Documentation in the Part I Certification Process
• Certification of State and Local Statutes and Historic Districts
• Guidelines for Counting Contributing and Noncontributing Resources for National Register Documentation (#14). The information contained in this former bulletin has been incorporated into How to Complete the National Register Registration Form (see The Basics above).

Please see 36 CFR 60, 36 CFR 67, and more recent National Register Bulletins for information formerly contained within these past bulletins.