North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office


Digital Policies and Resources
for
Survey and National Register Photography
Survey Databases
GIS and Computer Mapping
Digital technologies have dramatically changed the way the world collects, stores, evaluates, and distributes information.  While most of these changes are beneficial (or at least have the potential to be), they require learning new skills -- and sometimes relearning them as new technologies emerge.

The following pages are posted by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office for the benefit of staff, survey consultants, and nomination preparers:

I.  Digital Photography for National Register Nominations and Historic Property Surveys
Digital photography offers advantages in speed and cost savings for historic property surveys and National Register work, but it also places new photo management responsibilities on the photographer.

Policy and Guidelines:  Digital Photography for Historic Property Surveys and National Register Nominations.  Minimum standards for equipment and images sizes; naming photos for surveys and nominations; submitting photographs on CDs.

Working with Digital Photographs.  An overview of digital photography and software for editing and managing digital photographs; photo size and resolution for prints and screen presentations; using software to batch rename photos and to print labeled proof sheets.

HPO Photography Fee Schedule  (PDF format). Charges for both film and digital photographic services provided by the HPO photo lab. .

HPO Photo Lab Order Form:  PDF Version to print out and fill in by hand, or the Word Version to fill out on your computer.

II. Survey Databases
Use of the new Access survey database is required for county and municipal historic property surveys, survey updates, and historic district National Register nominations. It is not required, expected, or desired for individual property nominations or for Study List applications.  HPO staff will prepare a customized database for your project that will include existing data for surveyed properties within your study area and have default values and drop-down pick lists for selected fields to speed data entry.

To download the following PDF files to your computer, right click on the link and select "Save Link Target As" (in IE). Or, left click to open the file, then save to your computer.

North Carolina Architectural Survey Manual: Practical Advice for Recording Historic Resources (November 2008; PDF format)

NCHPO Survey Database Data Entry Manual (PDF format; October 2009 version).  Line-by-line instructions for using the Access survey database.

NCHPO Survey Field Form (PDF format).  A one-sheet field data entry form (front and back) for field data entry that corresponds to the field structure of the Access database.  This replaces the old four-page "yellow form" formerly used in surveys.

NCHPO Survey Field Form Guidance (PDF format).  Instructions and guidance for using the one-sheet field data entry form.

III. Computer Mapping

HPOWEB requires only a standard browser to view HPO GIS data. The site has current locational data for all National Register listings, most Study List entries and Determinations of Eligibility, and surveyed rural properties for many counties.  Archaeological site data is not included.  The site includes links to tutorial videos and HPO GIS metadata.

NCHPO Web Mapping Services: ArcGIS users may display current HPO data in ArcMap with these services.  This memo provides the URLs for the services and installation instructions. Archaeological site data is not included.

Google Earth KMZ layers:

You may install Google Earth *.KMZ layer files on your computer to view locations and (most) boundaries of properties and districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places. No archaeological sites listed in the National Register are included.

To download and install Google Earth (free), go to http://earth.google.com/  (Google Earth requires a broadband connection; it will not work with dialup).

Left click on the following links and select "Save it to disk" to download the KMZ files to your computer.  Once the files are downloaded, navigate to the folder where you placed them and double-click on the file names to install and display them in Google Earth.

NC_NationalRegister_Points_5-1-2010.kmz .  Points located on (or near) the key feature in individually listed properties, and at or near the centroid of the areas covered by historic districts, as of  May 1, 2010.  Points are labeled with the property or district name in Google Earth.  Clicking on the point in Google Earth will display a few basic attributes of the property, including Survey Site Number, a brief description, special notes, and year listed in the National Register.

NC_NationalRegister_Boundaries_5-1-2010.kmz  .  Polygons showing boundaries of all districts and many individually listed properties as of May 1, 2010.  Google Earth does not label polygons, but the centroid point in the points layer is labeled with the district name.

Guidance for Using NCHPO Google Earth KMZ files  (PDF format).  Includes information about changing the display properties of the KMZ files after you install them.

To download National Park Service KMZ files for National Register listings in the southeastern U.S., including N.C. (points only; based on UTM coordinates provided in nominations and thus not always very accurate), go to the NRIS download center at http://www.nr.nps.gov/nrdown1.htm . Select "Geographic Files in Microsoft Access and Google Earth," then "Google_Earth_Layers," then "NRHP - South Region.kmz" . 

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