The Alabama Historical Commission is the historic preservation

Historic preservation

Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...

 agency for the U. S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission of safeguarding Alabama’s historic buildings and sites. It consists of twenty members appointed by the state governor or who serve in an official position. The members represent a broad cross section of Alabamians including architects, historians, archaeologists, and representatives of state universities. The commission is tasked with acquisition and preservation of historic properties and education of the public about
historic sites in Alabama.

Historic preservation

The commission, in cooperation with the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation, publishes the annual report, Places in Peril, that details Alabama's most threatened historic resources. The commission also partners with the Alabama Preservation Alliance and the University of West Alabama

University of West Alabama

The University of West Alabama is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States. It is currently on probation with its regional accrediting body....

 to produce the Preservation Scoreboard, a publication that highlights specific landmark rescues and success stories, opportunities for rescue, and demolitions within the state.

The commission's executive director serves as Alabama's State Historic Preservation Officer

State Historic Preservation Officer

The State Historic Preservation Office was created in 1966 under Section 101 of the National Historic Preservation Act . The purposes of SHPO include surveying and recognizing historic properties, reviewing nominations for properties to be included in the National Register of Historic Places,...

 and is responsible for nominating historic properties and sites for placement on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 and designation as National Historic Landmarks. The State Historic Preservation Officer carries out functions delegated to the state by the United States Department of the Interior

United States Department of the Interior

The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...

.

The commission also maintains the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage

The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These properties, which may be of national, state, and local...

, which includes properties that the commission deems worthy of preservation. The Alabama Register includes properties ranging from cemeteries to reconstructed properties which would possibly not qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The commission owns, operates, or has custody of 26 historic properties located throughout Alabama. These include the Alabama State Capitol

Alabama State Capitol

The Alabama State Capitol, also known as the First Confederate Capitol, is the state capitol building for Alabama. It is located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960....

, Belle Mont

Belle Mont (Tuscumbia, Alabama)

Belle Mont is a historic Jeffersonian-style plantation house near Tuscumbia in Colbert County, Alabama. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1982, due to its architectural significance.-History:...

, Bottle Creek Indian Mounds

Bottle Creek Indian Mounds

Bottle Creek Indian Mounds is an archaeological site located on a low swampy island within the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta near Mobile, Alabama, United States...

, Fendall Hall

Fendall Hall

Fendall Hall, also known as the Young–Dent Home, is an Italianate-style historic house museum in Eufaula, Alabama. The two-story wood-frame structure, with a symmetrical villa-type floor-plan and crowning cupola, was built between 1856 and 1860 by Edward Brown Young and his wife, Ann Fendall Beall...

, Fort Mims

Fort Mims massacre

The Fort Mims massacre occurred on 30 August 1813, when a force of Creek people, belonging to the "Red Sticks" faction under the command of Peter McQueen and William Weatherford "Red Eagle", his cousin by marriage, killed hundreds of settlers, mixed-blood Creeks, and militia at Fort Mims...

, Fort Morgan, Fort Toulouse

Fort Toulouse

Fort Toulouse is a historic fort near the city of Wetumpka, Alabama, United States, that is now maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission. The French founded the fort in 1717, naming it for Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse...

, Gaineswood

Gaineswood

Gaineswood is a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The house was completed on the eve of the American Civil War after a construction period of almost twenty years. It is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo County and is one of the most significant remaining...

, Magnolia Grove

Magnolia Grove (Greensboro, Alabama)

Magnolia Grove is a historic Greek Revival mansion in Greensboro, Alabama. The house was named for the grove of Southern magnolias in which it stands. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973, due to its architectural and historical significance...

, Old Cahawba

Cahaba, Alabama

Cahaba, also spelled Cahawba, was the first permanent state capital of Alabama from 1820 to 1825. It is now a ghost town and state historic site. The site is located in Dallas County, southwest of Selma.-Capital:...

, and Pond Spring

Joseph Wheeler Plantation

The Joseph Wheeler Plantation, commonly known as Pond Spring or the General Joe Wheeler Home, is a historic plantation complex and historic district in the Tennessee River Valley in Wheeler, Alabama. The property contains twelve historically significant structures dating from 1818 to the 1880s...

.

Historical markers

The commission began a historical marker program in 1975 to inform the public about significant buildings, sites, structures, objects, cemeteries, and districts in the state. Individuals or organizations requesting a marker must have available funds to purchase it since the state provides no funds. In order for an individual or organization to receive a marker from the commission a property must be:

• listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
• or be a contributing resource in a listed National Register or Alabama Register historic district
• or be listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.